Working Paper

Should the central bank issue e-money?

Abstract: Should a central bank take over the provision of e-money, a circulable electronic liability? We discuss how e-money technology changes the tradeoff between public and private provision, and the tradeoff between e-money and a central bank's existing liabilities like bank notes and reserves. The tradeoffs depend on i) the technological setup of the e-money system (as a token or an account; centralized or decentralized); ii) the potential improvement in the implementation and transmission of monetary policy; iii) the risks to safety and privacy from cyber attacks; and iv) the uncertain impact on banks' efficiency and financial stability. The most compelling argument for central banks to issue e-money is to address competition problems in the banking sector.

Keywords: central bank digital currencies; e-money; cryptocurrencies; token- and account- based payment payments;

JEL Classification: E42; E51; E58;

https://doi.org/doi.org/10.20955/wp.2019.003

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Part of Series: Working Papers

Publication Date: 2019-01-18

Number: 2019-3

Pages: 27 pages