own borders. • cash's special features, especially confidentiality, universal acceptance and accessibility, are not currently available in the digital space. with payments increasingly moving to digital environments, we must therefore address the question of how to ensure that these essential characteristics are safeguarded in the future. page 3 / 8 • furthermore, expanding the use of digital solutions has steadily upped our reliance over noneuropean entities ( particularly from the united states ), which already leverage on significant network effects, thanks notably to their ability to harness extensive datasets and customer bases, and which control a number of widely used proprietary standards ( visa, mastercard ). beyond the matter of operational resilience, this situation raises competition, strategic autonomy and data protection concerns. • lastly, thanks to the impetus from european regulations, the rise of online payments has been accompanied by the introduction of strong customer authentication. strong authentication involves the use of two or more of the following three factors : possession ( something only the payer possesses ), knowledge ( something only the payer knows, such as a password ), or a biometric factor ( such as a fingerprint ). while the widespread implementation of strong authentication ensures a higher level of technological security across the entire payment chain, this makes it consumers awareness and vigilance all the more important, for they are increasingly targeted by fraudsters. in 2022, a rapid increase in fraud techniques involving scams and social engineering was observed, including spoofing techniques where fraudsters impersonate bank officers to put victims off their guard. the french observatory for the security of payment means ( osmp ) noted that while the share of fraudulent payments with strong customer authentication remained contained in 2021, it reached a significant level in 2022, climbing to 30 % of the total value of fraudulent online card payments. • all of these aspects relating to the digitalisation of payments raise regulatory and supervisory challenges. over time, the payment value chain has grown more fragmented due to the proliferation of stakeholders, some highly specialised, operating in different segments and offering increasingly diversified solutions which sometimes a limited interoperability. in this environment, it is becoming harder for regulators to develop a holistic overview of the sector's risks and interdependencies. moreover, some unregulated – or less regulated – participants, such as mobile phone manufacturers and telecom companies, now play a critical role in the security of means of payment. how are regulators tackling these challenges? page 4 / 8

announced the construction of a new banknote factory in the puy - de - dome region. this new facility is set to be the most modern, efficient and environmentally - friendly public banknote manufacturing centre in europe. we have made a clear commitment : cash will continue to be widely accessible throughout the euro area. • while offering these unique features and strengthening consumers ’ freedom of choice, the digital euro will also support sovereignty, competition, innovation and integration in the european payments sector. the distribution of the digital euro will be entrusted to private intermediaries and will be governed by a scheme rulebook governed by the eurosystem. these rules will lead to the emergence of open and harmonised acceptance standards that will reduce our dependence on non - european entities and enable private companies to offer their services throughout the euro area. in this way, the digital euro will foster the development of private solutions, under european governance, that can be used everywhere across the euro area and in any context, including in shops, online and peer - to - peer. currently, most solutions are restricted to certain countries or use cases. finally, wherever possible, the digital euro will reuse existing infrastructures, such as payment terminals and cards, to facilitate its integration into the payment ecosystem. • while europe's digital currency initiative is well advanced, there is still a long way to go before people can actually consider paying with the digital euro. the governing council of the european central bank recently announced the launch of a preparation phase, following the investigation phase that began in 2021. the new phase will allow us to ( i ) finalise the design, ( ii ) experiment some functionalities and ( iii ) lay the foundations for the development of the architecture by selecting potential providers. we will also continue to dialogue actively with market participants, as well as with merchant and consumer representatives, to ensure that the digital euro meets their needs. • in june, the european commission published a proposal for a regulation, which is now being discussed by the european parliament and the member states, marking the start of an important democratic debate on this project. let me stress that the decision to issue a digital see the process of designing a new series of banknotes. during summer 2023, european citizens were asked to share their opinions on the theme of the new series. page 7 / 8 euro has not yet been taken, and will not be taken until the co - legislators have finalised and voted on the legislation. money and payments have strategic importance that raises new