Fated to return through inventiveness

Banking everywhere is being confronted with deep societal paradigm shifts and digital transformation challenges. Demands for better governance and heightened societal and environmental accountability are being leveled by civil societies, regulators, and, at least verbally, some governments and the community of nations. They are reflected in innumerable global discussions on diverse topics such as universal financial inclusion, climate risk mitigation, and gender awareness, which are augmenting the age-old discourses on the role of finance in economic justice, prosperity, and productivity.   The challenges of a fundamental redesign of money, banking, and all financial relations matter hugely, perhaps more than ever, for every human being – much more so in a year like 2023 when armed conflicts of historic consequence are shaking every assumption of a world heading towards peace. The reasons for the financial challenges alone are so many that they cannot be enumerated and much less argued in this