Payment systems and central banks: Where are we now and where will e-payments take us?

This chapter focuses on two major issues. The first relates to the trade-off between risk containment, on the one hand, and cost or efficiency, on the other hand, in the design of large-value clearing and settlement systems for payments, securities, and foreign exchange. In the course of the discussion of this issue, we touch upon the role of central banks in the oversight or regulation of such systems and of retail payment systems. The second issue involves the implications for central banks and monetary policy of a world of electronic money.