Financial infrastructure 2024

Security and contingency arrangements require prioritisation at all levels, among individual entities and across sectors and borders.

Deputy Governor Pål Longva

Executive Board’s assessment

The financial infrastructure in Norway is secure and efficient, operations are stable and payments can be made swiftly, at low cost. Payment system security and contingency arrangements are both more important and more demanding than they used to be.

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Security and contingency arrangements

Section 1

The geopolitical situation, technological advances and increased globalisation have made security and contingency arrangements more important and more demanding. Security in individual entities is the first line of defence. Norges Bank contributes in a number of ways to strengthening security and contingency arrangements in the financial sector.

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Central bank money and settlement

Section 2

To ensure an efficient and secure payment system in the present and going forward, Norges bank has adopted a multi-pronged approach. In addition to investigating a future design for the settlement system and real-time payments, the Bank is working to strengthen cash contingency arrangements and to introduce a central bank digital currency.

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Payment costs

Section 3

Growing use of mobile payments with international cards at physical points of sale is pushing up the low payment costs in Norway. The payment card with the lowest costs, the national debit card BankAxept, should also be made available for mobile payments. There have been a number of cases of billing fees that are materially higher than necessary. Some billers have recently reduced their fees.

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Crypto-assets

Section 4

A survey conducted for Norges Bank in 2024 shows that 11 percent of the Norwegian population are crypto-asset holders. If the level of interconnectedness between crypto-assets and traditional financial assets deepens, it can increase systemic risk.

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Requirement to use central counterparties in the EU

Section 5

Regulation has been amended in the EU to reduce the EU’s dependence on third country central counterparties (CCPs). One of the amendments requires clearing derivatives in EU CCPs.

Read section 5