instruments in the euro area, making those instruments more affordable and thereby promoting financial inclusion. the single euro payments area ( sepa ) is instrumental in this respect. later this week, the ecb will publish the second sepa migration report, which will highlight the progress accomplished and the remaining challenges as we come closer to the sepa end - date of 1st february 2014 for migration to pan - european payment instruments. as recalled by the sepa council at its 23rd september meeting, the sepa migration requirements set by law have to be fully respected without exception. looking beyond the end - date, the ecb will establish and chair the euro retail payments board ( erpb ) as successor of the sepa council to contribute to and to facilitate the creation of an integrated, competitive, innovative and level - playing field market for euro retail payments. the ambition is for the erpb to achieve a wider membership, strengthened mandate and a more output - driven approach. i look forward to an active participation of the european commission. at present, financial inclusion is lower in those countries which make less use of cashless retail payment instruments. 7 giving more people, especially those on lower incomes, access to financial services not only adds to economic growth, but also plays a part in reducing income inequality and poverty. in this way, it can help to achieve higher social welfare. at the same time, it can integrate payment flows that currently exist outside the formal financial sector and strengthen the social role of banks. this matters enormously as europe is emerging from a protracted crisis that has put its social model under strains and shattered public trust in the financial industry. to sum up, i would say that there are strong economic, social and political reasons for retail payment service providers, users and regulators to aim for further retail payments integration. european regulation is essential in paving the way, but there are many other roads to follow for providers and users to reap the full benefits. retail payments innovation as i said earlier, e - commerce and new communication and information media have set new challenges in terms of functionality and security for retail payments. they have also given providers of payment - related services new opportunities to compete. these chances are valuable because, as we know, competition is good for business, i. e. it should provide users with more choices and better services. unfortunately, these opportunities have not yet been fully exploited by the different market players. innovative retail payment solutions in the euro area are still largely being provided by non - bank

can use access to existing online banking systems. second, innovative services should have the potential to become pan - european solutions. if we do not think about the european dimension right from the start, in a few years ’ time we will face all the problems of having to merge multiple national solutions into a european framework. i said earlier that retail payments integration brings benefits. the same thing applies to innovation. fostering retail payments innovation is socially important as it should help to lower costs and reduce entry barriers, and promote financial inclusion among the underbanked and the unbanked. conclusion i have only touched upon a number of very important issues. i am confident that today and tomorrow, these issues will be explored in greater depth. taken together, the speakers, panellists, chairs and discussants at this conference as well as you in the audience possess a vast body of knowledge and expertise. if all those assets are put to good use in choosing the future direction, i am confident that the right road will be found. retail payments have reached a turning point as regards integration and innovation. as in the famous poem by robert frost, 8 the road that will be travelled by will make all the difference – economically and socially. thank you very much for your attention. robert frost ( 1874 – 1963 ) : “ the road not taken ”. bis central bankers ’ speeches