Un Chip Sottopelle Sostituira' il Portafogli?

Quasi tutte le maggiori banche centrali (inclusa la Bce) stanno valutando l'introduzione di mezzi di pagamento elettronici.
Le autorita' monetarie cinesi sembrano ad uno stadio piu' avanzato. Le sperimentazioni sono già in corso in quattro grandi città pilota scelte dalla People's Bank of China e coinvolgono sette grandi banche commerciali. Alcuni ventilano l'ipotesi che con lo yuan digitale la Cina voglia attaccare il primato del dollaro nelle transazioni internazionali.

La BCE dal canto suo ha annunciato alcuni giorni fa che a Francoforte si sta seriamente studiando un progetto su cui la Banca d'Italia ha assunto l'iniziativa. Nonostante una straordinaria diffusione delle transazioni digitali sin dall'introduzione dell'euro, in Euroloandia il 75% degli acquisti avviene ancora in contanti. Tuttavia esiste gia' in nuce una piattaforma, il TIPS, (Target instant payment settlement) concepita, sviluppata e gestita - dalla Banca d'Italia per l'Eurosistema. In teoria si potrebbe estendere l'accesso a imprese e privati.
Per sondare l'accettazione di vari stakeholders la Banca d'Italia, ha lanciato una consultazione pubblica.
Invece sull'altro lato dell'Atlantico, nonostante tutta questa febbrile attivita' delle "concorrenti", la Federal Reserve americana, per il momento non sembra intenzionata ad implementare il lancio della sua moneta digitale.

In questa puntata (aiutandoci con una tabella preparata da Luca Fantacci su Lavoce.info) spieghiamo cosa sono queste monete digitali, perche' sono diverse dalle cripto monete come Bitcoin o Ethereum e anche da Libra, la valuta vagheggiata da Mark Zuckerberg.

Insomma invece del portafogli useremo un chip sottopelle per pagare al supermercato e al bar?

Kafka in the Gulf

It looked simple enough. My bank required a copy of my passport, certified by a Notary Public or by a government official. I know that there is a Notary Publich in Barsha near the Courts Building. I passed by several times, so I felt relieved that the task would not be a jumble of procedures and trips to various offices. Best of all the Notary Public, I learn, closes at 8:00 pm. So after work I will have time to drive there. But when I arrive at 7:30 the door is already locked. The Pakistani attendant insists that I come the following day, because it is too late. I point at the sign with the closing time but he shrugs. There are too many people inside. The next day I go early enough. I explain at the information desk that I need a certified copy of the first page of my passport. The blank expression on his face sets off an alarm bell in my mind. He has no idea.

After I explain three times the matter he suggests that I speak to a supervisor. I go to an office where a lady is kind enough to listen, but confirms that the Notary Public does not attest the copy of identity documents. It can attest the copy of a contract but not a passport. I am naive enough to ask what is the difference. There is no difference. That's the way it is. I can try at the Ministry of Justice somewhere between Dubai and Sharjah. In which department or office it not for anybody to know. I resolve to ask a friend who is a lawyer in Dubai. The response is hardly reassuring. Every time she goes to an office the rules have changed. One day you need the traslation in Arabic of a document the next you do not. One day the contract must be verified by a Consulate a week later it must be verified by a Court. One day an English translation is deemed acceptable, then once you go back with the document translated another official decides that an Arabic translation is a must. And so on. So everytime she needs an interaction withe the authorities she prays that the harassment will not go on indefinitely. She has to bear the clients' rage, their suspicion that she is an incompetent or worse, their frustration with the waste of time (for whoich they refuse to pay) and the whole story definitely does not contribute to make the business and legal environment attractive for anybody with a grain of mental stability.