MNI BRIEF: Riksbank Skingsley Sees Bank Deposit/CBDC Contest

Although bank deposit taking could be hit by the launch of central bank digital currencies, they would create fresh commercial opportunities as well, both Riksbank Deputy Governor Cecilia Skingsley and the BIS's Benoit Coeure said, in response to an MNI question Wednesday.

Skingsley said that deposits were "not a divine, given right for banks" and that they would have to compete to get them while Coeure said "the fact that money might move away from bank accounts and towards CBDC doesn't mean banks will lose contact with their clients" and that the most likely model would be one where central banks issue CBDCs and commercial banks distribute them. They were talking at the launch of the BIS' Nordic Innovation hub, with the BIS reporting that over 80% of central banks are now undertaking CBDC research and development.