In some European countries, electronic money currently is relatively intensely used. This has spurred research (see, among others, Boeschoten and Hebbink, 1996; Groeneveld and Visser, 1997) investigating the monetary policy implications of these technological innovations on the retail side of the payments system. This research points to a gradual substitution of currency by its electronic counterpart. As currency by itself is neither a useful operational or intermediate target nor a relevant channel of transmission of monetary policy, this type of financial innovation is unlikely to inhibit, in any substantial way, the formulation of monetary policy (Henckel et al., 1999). Indeed, recent work by the European Central Bank (ECB, 2000) seems to take the same position. However, innovations influencing the wholesale side of the payments system, both in gross and in net clearing main reason for this is that these innovations may diminish the need for bank reserves at the central bank. It thus has (in the absence of regulatory measures) the potential of eliminating the monopoly position of central banks as suppliers of the means of payment (Woodford, 2000), with negative consequences for the ability of central banks to conduct monetary policy. (fragment of text)