/ 07 / behind - the - scenes - of - central - bankdigital - currency - 512174. - 4preparing for the payment system of the future the federal reserve needs to be preparing for the payment landscape of the future even as we continue to make improvements to meet today ’ s needs. in light of the rapid digitalization of the financial system, the federal reserve has been thinking critically about whether there is a role for a potential u. s. central bank digital currency ( cbdc ) in the digital payment landscape of the future and about its potential properties, costs, and benefits. our financial and payment system delivers important benefits today and is continuing to improve with developments like real - time payments. nonetheless, certain challenges remain, such as a lack of access to digital banking and payment services for some americans and expensive and slow cross - border payments. growing interest in the digital financial ecosystem suggests that technology is enabling potential improvements that merit consideration. 10 in addition, it is important to consider how new forms of crypto - assets and digital money may affect the federal reserve ’ s responsibilities to maintain financial stability, a safe and efficient payment system, household and business access to safe central bank money, and maximum employment and price stability. it is prudent to explore whether there is a role for a cbdc to preserve some of the safe and effective elements of the financial system of the present in a way that is complementary to the private sector innovations transforming the financial landscape of the future. the public and private sector play important complementary roles within the financial system in the united states. from fedwire to fednow, the federal reserve has lael brainard “ the future of retail payments in the united states ” ( speech at the fednow service webinar, washington, d. c., august 6, 2020 ), https : / / www. federalreserve. gov / newsevents / speech / brainard20200806a. htm. - 5over a century of experience working to improve the infrastructure of the u. s. payment system to provide a resilient and adaptable foundation for dynamic private sector activity. 11 in parallel, private sector banks and nonbanks have competed to build the best possible products and services on top of that foundation and to meet the dollardenominated needs of consumers and investors at home and around the world. the result is a resilient payment system that is responsive to the changing needs of businesses,

thomas jordan : real estate, mortgages and monetary policy speech by mr thomas jordan, member of the governing board of the swiss national bank, at the iazi, schweizer immobilienkongress 2009, zurich, 10 november 2009. the complete speech can be found in german on the swiss national bank ’ s website ( www. snb. ch ). * * * there is a close interrelationship between real estate, mortgages and monetary policy. on the one hand, monetary policy impacts on the real estate and mortgage market. when the central bank reduces interest rates, this eases the burden on household and company budgets and fosters the demand for real estate. on the other hand, monetary policy also takes account of developments on the real estate market because these can affect economic growth, inflation and financial stability. once again, the current financial crisis has thrown these interrelationships into sharp relief. problems in a number of mortgage and real estate markets – in particular in the us and the uk – triggered the financial crisis and plunged the global financial system into a systemic crisis. this impacted on switzerland ’ s financial stability and made it necessary to create the stabilisationfund for the transfer of illiquid ubs assets. the swiss real estate and mortgage market played a positive role in various measures adopted by the snb to handle the financial crisis. swiss mortgages played a role in securing swiss financial stability in the limmat pfandbrief transactions, whereby big banks improved their refinancing situation by issuing covered bonds. consequently, switzerland – unlike other countries – was able to avoid introducing state - guaranteed bonds. with the drastic reduction in key rates and the subsequent decline in mortgage rates, the burden on households and companies was eased. in this way, the severity of the recession was somewhat alleviated and the risks of deflation reduced. however, the interest rate is now at a historic low and this means medium - term risks for the swiss real estate market and financial stability. experience shows that periods of low interest rates provide scope for excesses on the mortgage and real estate market. consequently, in the current environment in particular, attention should be given to ensuring that past mistakes are not repeated. caution must remain the watchword when granting loans.