more attractive ; this, in turn, is likely to help ease the overvaluation of the swiss franc. the slowdown we are now observing in the economy also suggests that the swiss franc is very unlikely to remain persistently high. monetary policy outlook i shall now move on to our monetary policy. since 15 january, we have repeatedly and thoroughly explained our reasons for discontinuing the minimum exchange rate and introducing negative interest on sight deposits at the snb. upholding the minimum exchange rate was no longer sustainable given the changes taking place in the international arena and the sharply diverging monetary policy stances of the world ’ s major currency blocks. in formulating our monetary policy, we are confronted with an exceptionally complex situation on international financial markets. what is more, the global economy is still grappling with the after - effects of the financial and economic crisis, not least in the form of high levels of uncertainty. these are the realities that the snb – and the swiss economy – are facing. turning a blind eye is not an option. in this environment, we were aware that the discontinuation of the minimum exchange rate would cause switzerland ’ s economy to slow. while the data from the first quarter confirm that this slowing process is now underway, the country ’ s economic development since 15 january has been broadly in line with our expectations. our monetary policy is geared towards this challenging set of circumstances and is currently guided by our willingness to take an active role in the foreign exchange market and apply negative interest rates. this two - pronged approach is designed to weaken the swiss franc. the snb ’ s interventions in the foreign exchange market, which feed more liquidity into the banking system, reinforce the effect of both of these measures. we intend to retain the current interest rate level for now and will monitor its effects closely. with respect to setting interest rates and supplying the money market with liquidity, the snb ’ s monetary policy decisions have been very bold by international standards. all things considered, the swiss franc nevertheless remains significantly overvalued. were switzerland not to have negative interest rates, and hence have a narrower interest rate differential with other countries, demand for swiss francs would be even greater and our currency would be even stronger today. we are aware that the current exchange rate situation is extremely difficult for exporters, tourism and industries that are particularly exposed to competition from abroad. while we recognise the scale of the challenges facing the affected companies, it is

settlement service ( tips ). 7 but we know that the private sector, by contrast, has made far less progress on this front. 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches the next step is for payment service providers to offer instant payments at attractive and transparent conditions. this means that prices should be neither excessive nor hidden to consumers. while the cost for service providers of using tips is 0. 20 eurocent ( €0. 002 ) per instant payment transaction, instant payments are sometimes offered to consumers for €1 per transaction. this must change. for instant payments to become the new normal, they must be cheap and easy to use. we would also like to see providers make instant payments available on all commonly used electronic channels and offer much - desired functionalities such as requestto - pay. for everyone, everywhere our strategy goes further. payments that cross the eu border must become cheaper, easier and faster. we thus contribute to the international work on cross - border payments, and we are exploring with sveriges riksbank how tips could support cross - currency instant payment transactions. to promote innovation and digitalisation, we are also investigating the opportunities of paneuropean electronic identities and electronic signatures for retail payments. finally, the strategy encompasses work on the environmental sustainability of payments and on access to payments for all citizens. we are also preparing for the future through our work on a possible digital euro. a digital euro would provide europeans cost - free access to a safe form of digital money which respects privacy and has legal tender status, ensuring it can be used everywhere. work is ongoing in cooperation between the ecb and the national central banks, including suomen pankii – finlands bank. let me conclude. the eurosystem and the european commission have outlined a clear vision of the future of retail payments8 in europe. digital, european, instant, for everyone, everywhere. together, we can make it happen. 1 ecb ( 2019 ), “ implications of digitalisation in retail payments for the eurosystem ’ s catalyst role ”, july. 2 ecb ( 2021 ), “ the eurosystem ’ s retail payments strategy ”, april. 3 ecb ( 2020 ), “ study on the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area ( space ) ”, december. 4 for example, the share of card payments with international card schemes rose from 53 % to 69 % of total card payment transactions in the eu between 2009 and 2018 ( source : ecb )