To set the context for then FinTech innovations, we start with the basics in order to understand the historical development of payments systems, starting with the bill of exchange first developed in 13th century Tuscany and concluding with today. This presentation will seek to identify the driving forces behind and constraints on the evolution of payments technologies. A timely focus will be to ask: how have payments system responded to major crises in the past (wars, pandemics, financial crises)? Do such events set back structural changes in payments system, or accelerate them?
