ECB director Piero Cipollone sees the need for a digital euro in times of changing payment habits. Digital central bank money is currently being used, developed or explored on a pilot basis for a wide range of users in approximately 63 countries.
The Italian said this on Friday at a financial conference of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) in Vienna. Meanwhile, major private sector payment solutions are emerging worldwide.
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“Some countries may even try to use crypto assets. For example, US presidential candidate Donald Trump promises to make the US a Bitcoin superpower,” Cipollone said.
In this highly dynamic environment, Europe cannot afford to stand still: “With the digital euro we would make central bank money suitable for the digital world and thus preserve our currency sovereignty in the digital age,” said Cipollone.
The ECB wants to ensure that people in Europe can continue to use cash in the future: “But we cannot stand idly by and accept that private individuals cannot use the central bank’s money for their daily digital transactions,” he added.
Private providers are becoming more and more widespread
European payment service providers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with international card schemes and electronic payment solutions: for example, Apple Pay has vastly expanded its reach in Europe and secured a share of interchange fees, which represents a significant cost burden for issuing banks: “The banks “There is therefore a risk that they will miss out not only on interchange fees, but also on customer relationships and user data,” says Cipollone.
The digital euro would be a uniform, simple, secure and widely accepted public solution for digital payments in stores, online and between people. According to Cipollone, it is available both online and offline and is free to use for simple payment transactions. The Bundesbank does not expect the introduction of a digital version of the single currency in the euro area until 2028/2029 at the earliest. Burkhard Balz, board member of the Bundesbank, is a member of the European Central Bank’s digital euro task force.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
