Dear John,

This is a potential gamechanger. The Bank of England has released a paper looking into new forms of digital money - and is considering creating a new form of public digital money, also known as Central Bank Digital Currency. [1] Done right, this could mean we’d no longer have to rely on big private banks or be forced to bail them out. [2]

But designed wrong, this could hand more power to private banks and card companies, who already control most of our money and payment system - and who are fighting to keep it that way. Together, we need to make sure that doesn’t happen.

The Bank of England’s opened a public survey that’s running until Tuesday. It’s asking if this new money should be accessible to the public or just private companies. If thousands of us respond, together we can send a clear message that the public want any new central bank digital money to be truly public - and drown out the private companies.

John, this is a huge opportunity for us to show that the public doesn’t want to rely on private interests controlling our money system anymore. You only have to answer one question with a tick box, so it will only take you 1 minute to have your say. John, please will you answer the Bank’s survey now?

Big banks and tech firms like Facebook are vying for control of our digital money and payment system. And with the use of cash declining (the only truly public currency available to us), in the last few decades our money system has become more and more privatised.

But a Central Bank Digital Currency would be a form of public digital money. And if they make it available to everyone, it could bring lots of benefits, such as:

➡️ We could all hold bank accounts directly at the Bank of England (perhaps with access  via the public Post Office), instead of relying on private banks

➡️ It would ‘end ‘too big to fail’ banking’. The public would no longer be forced to bail out banks to save the payments system, because we’ll have a secure public one instead

➡️ It would make sure the unbanked or underbanked are no longer financially excluded and cut out extortionate banking fees

➡️ It would allow the government to send money directly to households, so it could pave the way for policies like universal basic income

Democratising money has been at the heart of Positive Money’s work since we started as a movement in 2010. [3] Money should be a tool that’s issued by a public body and available to everyone. Having a money system we can trust is the foundation of a fair democracy. 

Positive Money’s power comes from the people who read these emails and take action together. This email’s going to nearly 30,000 people. Earlier this year we won a new mandate for the Bank of England together with partners. [4] Together, we can challenge the dominance of private banks by responding to this survey in our thousands.

It’s a rare opportunity for us to demand a truly public payments system - one that prioritises people’s needs over the profits of a few greedy companies. 

Are you ready to help revolutionise the banking system, John? Please will you answer the Bank of England’s survey in one minute now? It’s important that thousands of us make our voices heard before Tuesday’s deadline.

Thanks for all you do,

Nicole, Rachel, Zack and the entire Positive Money team

P.S. If you want more information on central bank digital money or have any questions surrounding accessibility, privacy or data protection, Simon and Zack from the Positive Money team have written a blog with the Positive Money view on digital money and this consultation. Check it out here.

You can also watch our 2-minute explainer video on Twitter or YouTube. Don’t forget to like, retweet, comment or share - it all helps to spread the word!

Notes:

[1] Bank of England discussion paper: New Forms of Digital Money:

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/paper/2021/new-forms-of-digital-money

[2] Positive Money blog: Have your say on the future of money:

https://positivemoney.org/2021/09/have-your-say-on-the-future-of-money/

[3] A brief history of Positive Money:

https://positivemoney.org/about/our-history/

[4] Positive Money Blog: Big win: New green mandate for the Bank of England:

https://positivemoney.org/2021/03/big-win-new-green-mandate-for-the-bank-of-england/

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