ECB’s Mersch: Banks should speed up instant payments to counter Bitcoin

The European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board Member, Yves Mersch, was on the wires earlier today, noting that the banks should speed up the introduction of instant payments to dull the attractiveness of the digital currencies such as Bitcoin.  

Key Quotes (via Reuters):

“Banks need to implement instant payments as soon as possible and provide an alternative narrative to the ongoing public debate on the alleged innovation brought by virtual currency schemes.”

ECB would “experiment with cash on different digital technologies” but did not see scope for “adventurous applications” of such technology.

“We shall also experiment with cash on different digital technologies,” Mersch said. “Other adventurous applications of a more disruptive nature are simply not robust enough.”