£50 character selection and future forum launch remarks given by mark carney, governor of the bank of england science museum, london friday 2 november 2018 i am grateful to clare macallan and jennifer nemeth for their assistance in drafting these remarks and to lizzie levett, emma sinclair and toby davies for providing background information. all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / publications / pages / speeches / default. aspx it is always a pleasure to visit the science museum. its galleries and exhibitions showcase the rich history of human ingenuity in the sciences, technology, and medicine. you might think that the bank of england has little in common with such lofty endeavours, but science spans all aspects of life, extending even to central banking. within this mathematics gallery alone, there are multiple examples of where the worlds of central banking and science converge. take the moniac machine, which illustrates the circular flow of income around the economy using an assortment of pipes and coloured water. or babbage ’ s analytical engine, developed in collaboration with mathematician ada lovelace. this precursor to modern computers helped estimate mortality rates, techniques that are still central to underwriting life insurance policies today. the same life insurers that we regulate at the bank of england. among those who are supervising, modelling and policymaking, are the bank ’ s very own scientists. almost 10 % of colleagues across the bank have a science or maths degree and 1 in 10 of our graduates starting this year studied chemistry, biology or physics at university. we very much value the skills and diversity they bring to our efforts, so in a short recruitment pitch, when you ‘ think science ’, think too of central banking. after all, science starts with curiosity and asking the right questions. science teaches people to conduct dedicated research and disciplined analysis. these skills and talents make a good supervisor, policymaker or senior leader, and they are the reason that the bank increasingly recruits from beyond the field of economics. not least because scientific advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning are reshaping our world, transforming the nature of both work and commerce. this revolution will impact all aspects of the bank ’ s work, from the future of work, through its effects on employment, productivity and wages, to the future of finance, as the nature of customer service, trading and risk management transforms. these advances in science and technology are also transforming our focus today – money. they are making digital money

on 14 december. the bank expects to announce a final decision in the summer next year. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * we look to history when we chose a new character, but money has a future not just a past. the selection of the new £50 note character is not my only announcement today … because as i alluded to earlier, money is evolving. today, it is much more than polymer. while cash remains invaluable to many, it is now the second most frequent transaction method after debit card payments. 1 and innovation is expected to make other electronic forms of payment easier to make and faster to settle. the technological revolution in finance will bring more tailored products, keener pricing, and more diverse sources of credit for households and smes. the bank is embracing fintech and ensuring that it develops in ways that maximise the opportunities and minimise the risks for society. we aim to enable, empower and ensure. cash transactions made up 37 % of all transactions in 2017. all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / publications / pages / speeches / default. aspx enable new technology by developing the right environment for fintech to thrive, such as by upgrading the bank ’ s hard infrastructure on which finance relies – such as our large value payments system, rtgs. the bank is one of the first to allow non - bank payment service providers to directly access its system, something that is lowering the costs of payments across borders. enabling also means having the right soft infrastructure, such as rules and regulations, to help fintech thrive. this includes improving how we capture data from our hard infrastructure in a consistent and usable form while ensuring privacy. we must also empower new providers to promote competition by lowering barriers to entry through proportionate supervision and assuring a level playing field in access to our hard infrastructure. finally, we continue to ensure these new technologies add diversity and resilience to the financial system. how we enable, empower and ensure is the focus of the bank ’ s future of finance work. just as with the £50, we are soliciting the uk public ’ s contributions to “ decide the future of money ” through bank ’ s future forum. we want to know how you make payments now and in the future ( with cash, by card or through a qr code? ) what do you expect from