, it is in the fintechs ’ own interest that we should help them to apply the regulatory framework. we also want to help them when new rules are put in place. under the psd2 framework, the acpr was the first european authority to grant authorisations for payment initiation and aggregation services. in total, it has authorised more than 20 actors to offer these new services since 2018. it has also worked to promote the development of open banking, by making sure that all actors can work together on the deployment of apis. the eight workshops this afternoon, led by experts from nearly all of the acpr ’ s directorates, are testament to the focus we place on teaching and informing. but if we can do even better, even more, tell us today. i shall finish by focusing on the acpr - amf fintech forum which is what brings us here today. created in 2016, it is a forum for exchange which we try to make as efficient as possible by setting up, where needed, targeted working groups to make concrete progress on key topics. the 2018 task force on artificial intelligence led to the publication of a first report, and in turn to the launch of experiments with volunteer players, which shall continue in new forms next year. this work is a first step towards the publication of principles of governance for ai algorithms. the working group on remote customer identification led to a number of regulatory changes this year. we are now supporting anssi ’ s efforts to publish a framework so that these changes can be fully implemented. we have also set up two working groups with players from the crypto - asset sector. the first, which published its report last wednesday, examines all anti - money laundering methods used by digital asset service providers : it highlights the potential of blockchain technology in transaction tracing, and sets out technical avenues for ensuring that electronic transfers meet the transparency requirements recommended by the fatf. the second aims to promote dialogue between digital asset service providers and banking players, to help cryptoasset entrepreneurs get access to the bank accounts and services that they need. ii. the digital revolution in payments i would like to turn now to a subject that is closely linked to fintechs : payments in the digital era. innovations in the field of payments are disrupting the traditional split between central bank money and commercial bank money. people are using less and less cash, and therefore less and less central bank money, and more and more contactless payments. what is more,

the european payment ecosystem has become extremely reliant on non - european players – today the global card schemes, and tomorrow the bigtechs – with the result that it now has limited control over the management of personal data. in parallel, the rise of crypto - assets and above all of stablecoins means they could potentially try to replace central bank and commercial bank money, even though they offer none of the same guarantees in terms of liquidity, service continuity and neutrality. in light of this situation, europe needs to develop a payments strategy. i have often pushed for 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches this over the past two years. recently, we have made decisive progress thanks to the strong involvement of the ecb and the commission. we now have to put this into action and “ deliver ” – this is urgent for the next two years. this strategy notably combines three elements : 1 / european regulation on stablecoins : on 24 september, the european commission published its mica project, which in our view provides a good basis for reconciling innovation with consumer protection and financial stability. 2 / an acceleration on the european central bank digital currency ( cbdc ), the “ digital euro ”. we haven ’ t yet decided on it, but we need to be ready to decide if it becomes necessary, and as soon as it becomes necessary. the banque de france was the first to start a programme of eight experiments on a wholesale cbdc, notably with a number of fintechs, to improve the functioning of the financial markets and institutions. if necessary, the eurosystem could decide to issue a retail cbdc to ensure the general public have access to central bank money, especially in countries where cash payments are in decline. the ecb has created a high - level task force whose report we published ten days ago. we will now launch a public consultation, starting today, examine all regulatory and technical issues, and begin experiments at the national central banks – the banque de france will contribute actively to this. between now and mid - 2021, the eurosystem will decide whether to launch a project for a digital euro, which would start with an investigatory phase. and while we ’ re on the topic, let me just comment on the terminology used : you sometimes hear people talk about cryptocurrencies, but the term is a contradiction. you either have a currency, with all its functions and a public guarantee, or private crypto - assets.