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1 Introduction: From Monument to Money
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a privilege to address such a distinguished gathering here in Washington. A city of powerful institutions and enduring symbols.
Just a short distance from here stands one of them: the Washington Monument. Today, we see it as a completed landmark – a towering symbol of American history with global reach, admired by millions of visitors every year. Yet behind this impressive presence lies a long and sometimes difficult construction history, with interruptions and delays stretching over decades. In this sense, its story is also a lesson in perseverance and public responsibility.
The idea to honour George Washington dates back to the 1780s. But for decades progress stalled. When construction finally began in 1848, it soon ran into trouble: funding dried up, political disputes erupted, and by 1854 work stopped. For more than twenty years, a half-finished stump stood on this ground – a monument to good intentions without follow-through. Only when the federal government stepped in, strengthened the foundations and provided stable funding was the monument completed in the 1880s. And even since then, it has not been a “set and forget” structure. Earthquakes, storms and the effects of time have required repeated repairs and modernisation – including the elevator.
The Washington Monument reminds us: even the most impressive structures need solid foundations and ongoing stewardship. The same is true for our payment systems – complex architectures of rules, infrastructure and trust. They cannot be built once and left alone. They require solid foundations, continuous maintenance and, at times, decisive public action.
So let me shift perspective. Imagine our payment system as a high-rise building: digital payments are the elevators, and cash is the staircase – a fundamental part of the design, indispensable when things go wrong. And let’s be honest: some of us simply feel more comfortable on the stairs – no matter how fancy the elevator is.
2 Inside the High-Rise: How We Pay Today
With that image in mind, let us step inside and watch people move from floor to floor. Most take the elevators – our digital payments: cards, mobile wallets, e-payment methods. In many countries, they are now the default way to navigate the building.
The staircase, by contrast, is used less. This is cash at the point of sale. In advanced economies its share has been declining for years.
In Germany, about 51 % of transactions are made in cash, down from 58 % in 2021—and the share continues to decline.Yet the building is not emptying. More people keep their place inside – holding cash as a store of value – even as they climb the stairs less for everyday payments. Cash is not disappearing; only the way it is used is changing: an observation also referred to as the “banknote paradox”.
But even this picture is starting to shift: in many countries, cash in circulation is now falling relative to the size of the economy, suggesting that its future role as a store of value may be less certain than it once seemed. This shift shapes how we must design and safeguard payments. As more people rely on elevators, management optimises: staircases narrow, doors are harder to find, lights are dimmed.
In economic terms: with less cash use at the point of sale, cash infrastructure shrinks, acceptance becomes patchier and unit costs rise. A downward spiral could follow: the staircase grows harder to find and less convenient, so fewer use it; declining usage and acceptance lead to further cuts; higher costs make maintenance even less attractive.
Meanwhile, the elevators change, too. They grow faster, carry more people and are often operated by global players headquartered far from this building. They are extremely efficient – but also highly interconnected, dependent on electricity, networks and complex IT.
From the lobby, everything looks impressive and efficient. In the control room, we see vulnerabilities: cyber risks, single points of failure and geopolitical tensions that can cascade across borders.
In short, inside our monetary high-rise we see three trends:
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declining everyday use of the staircase – cash at the point of sale;
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continued demand for a place in the building – cash as a store of value;
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and increasing reliance on the elevator system – private digital payments.
These shifts bring new forms of convenience and speed, but also greater concentration and fragility. This raises a crucial question for central banks: how do we keep the building safe, inclusive and resilient—not only on sunny days, but when the lights flicker or the ground begins to shake?
We know from right here in Washington what shaking ground can do. In 2011, an earthquake damaged the Washington Monument and closed it for almost three years. It survived because it was carefully inspected, stabilised and restored. And for those inside when the quake struck, the instinct was clear: they did not wait for the elevator – they left the monument the old-fashioned way, by using the stairs.
This episode teaches something fundamental. In crisis, people reach for the most reliable exit – often the simplest, most time-tested option. Imagine a high-rise with no staircase at all: no matter how modern it looks, it would never feel safe.
The lesson is clear. Even the strongest landmarks are vulnerable to sudden shocks. Resilience is not a luxury; it is a necessity.
The same holds
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