At a time of digital and geopolitical disruptions, strengthening financial resilience is vital to protect stability and prosperity.

Money rests on trust: trust in price stability, a sound financial system, and the smooth functioning of payments. In crises, people turn to central banks for reassurance. Draghi’s 2012 pledge to do “whatever it takes” preserved the euro; during the pandemic and recent inflation shock, decisive ECB action anchored confidence. Without this credibility, policy rates might have had to climb as high as 8%, imposing huge costs on households and firms.

But central banks cannot act alone. Resilience requires joint effort by public and private actors. The ability to keep vital functions running—especially payments and market infrastructures—is essential. Recent failures show the risks: Spain’s April 2025 blackout froze digital payments, slashing card use by 40% and e-commerce by half in a day; Silicon Valley Bank lost $42 billion in deposits within hours in 2023, nearly triggering systemic panic. When private systems falter, central banks must step in.

Risks today are heightened by three forces:

• Geopolitical fragmentation, eroding global safety nets and raising risks of financial coercion. Europe remains reliant on non-European firms for most card and mobile payments, challenging financial sovereignty.

• Technology, reshaping money and finance while exposing larger cyberattack surfaces. The annual cost of cyber risk already exceeds $200 billion, and central banks report rising attacks.

• Climate change, driving both immediate shocks and long-term threats. EU countries lost more than €738 billion to extreme weather since 1980.

These risks interact, magnifying vulnerabilities. In such a world, resilience must outweigh efficiency.

The ECB strengthens resilience through two roles:

• First line of defence: ensuring liquidity, safe payment and settlement systems, strong banking supervision, and enhanced cyber resilience. Our broad collateral framework and TARGET services secure liquidity flows and settlement. Supervised banks now withstand shocks rather than amplify them. Cyber resilience is reinforced through stress tests and public–private coordination at European level.

• Backstops of last resort: acting as lender of last resort, ensuring critical infrastructures like T2 and T2S remain operational, and safeguarding retail payments. Cash demand consistently rises in crises, while a future digital euro would add resilience for online and offline transactions.

Resilience anchors trust. It ensures households can access money, firms can invest, and governments can function, even in the darkest hours. In a world of geopolitical tension, rapid digital change and climate risks, building resilient institutions, infrastructures and money is not optional—it is the essence of the central bank’s mission.