ECB partners with standards bodies for digital euro

The ECB is working with three European standards bodies to use open payment frameworks for the digital euro, aiming to cut costs, ease integration, and offer a unified user experience by 2029.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has partnered with three European payment standards organizations—European Card Payment Cooperation (ECPC), Nexo Standards, and the Berlin Group—to adopt open technical standards for the digital euro. This move aims to lower costs and technical barriers for banks, merchants, and payment service providers by allowing them to use existing payment infrastructures, such as contactless tap-to-pay, merchant connectivity, and alias-based payments via phone numbers. The ECB plans to begin testing the digital euro in 2027, with a potential rollout in 2029. By leveraging established standards, the ECB seeks to reduce reliance on international payment networks, cut implementation costs, and ensure a consistent user experience across the eurozone. This initiative is expected to streamline integration, foster early stakeholder collaboration, and make digital euro payments accessible and familiar, eliminating the need for users to adapt to entirely new systems.