ELECTRONIC MONEY

An electronic store of monetary value on a technical device that may be widely used as a prepaid bearer instrument for making payments to undertakings other than the issuer without necessarily involving bank accounts in the transactions. In order to be considered e-money, such devices must operate as general-purpose payment instruments. The ECB's statistics capture e-money that is issued by MFIs located within the euro area. In accordance with Regulation ECB/2001/13, as amended, the amount outstanding of e-money issued by euro area MFIs is included in the balance sheet under "overnight deposits".