Dear John,

Do you think money should stay in public hands, John? The government’s asking the public’s views on a digital pound and it’s really important as many of us as possible have our say. Unless we share our views, there’s a risk the government will choose to design it in a way that keeps power in the hands of private corporations like big fintech, banks and card companies.

We believe a digital pound should give more money and power to the public. It could work alongside and a bit like cash - it would be issued by a public body like the Bank of England. Central banks all over the world are looking into introducing sovereign digital currencies in the next few years.

A new digital pound is a big opportunity for a more inclusive, reliable and publicly-owned money system. If thousands of us respond to their survey, together we can make sure they know that the public want any new digital currency to be owned by the public, free for everyone to use, and protect our privacy. Let’s make sure the government knows that.

 John, the deadline to respond to the survey is this Friday, 30th June. There are two ways you can have your say:

1. Use our ready-made template to email the government directly now:

2. Come to our webinar on Wednesday at 7pm to learn more about the digital pound, and get more support responding to the consultation.

What's the digital pound? And how we can make it work for people, not profit

When: Wednesday 28th June, 7pm - 8:30pm BST

Who: Saule Omarova, Professor of Law, Cornell University

Simon Youel, Head of Policy & Advocacy, Positive Money

Hosted by Rachel Oliver, Director of Public Engagement, Positive Money

The exciting thing is that a digital pound could make our economy much fairer. But the scary thing is that big banks and private companies are looking to get their hands on it. So together, we want to push the teams at the Treasury and Bank of England to make sure any new digital pound is run by the public and for the public.

Right now, we're forced to rely on private banks and card companies to make our online payments. And when the big banks get into trouble - like Silicon Valley Bank, Credit Suisse and First Republic did earlier this year - governments jump in to bail them out because we need them to run our digital payments system. [1]

We shouldn’t leave a vital public service like money in the hands of greedy bankers - it’s too risky and gives the banks too much power to line their own pockets at our expense. Alongside protecting cash, we believe a digital pound is our chance to break free from the big banks and democratise money to keep it in public hands.

All you have to do John, is hit send on a ready-made template email - or edit it as much as you like - to make the case for a public digital pound that’s truly inclusive, accessible and privacy-enhancing for everyone. Or, come along to our webinar on Wednesday evening and be walked through it.

For the last consultation in 2021, Positive Money helped thousands of supporters to contact the Bank of England and they publicly welcomed “the strength of engagement on this topic”. [2] Together, let’s make our voices even louder this time.

Thanks for all your support, 

Rachel, Nicole, Zack, Simon and the rest of the Positive Money team

Notes:

[1] An opportunity to stop the privatisation of money with a digital pound

[2] Responses to the Bank of England’s Discussion Paper on new forms of digital money, March 2022

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