ECB signs agreements for digital euro payment standards

The European Central Bank has signed agreements with ECPC, nexo standards, and the Berlin Group to reuse their existing open technical standards for digital euro online payments.

These standards enable diverse functionalities: ECPC's CPACE supports contactless 'tap-to-pay'; nexo standards connect merchant systems with payment service providers; and Berlin Group standards facilitate alias payments and in-app transactions.

This strategy aims to minimise market adoption costs and encourage early coordination among all players.

ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone stated, 'This partnership shows our strong commitment to making sure the digital euro works with existing European standards that the private sector can also use.'

He added that these open standards will provide a free European alternative to proprietary solutions, fostering competition and innovation across the euro area.

Europe currently lacks a universally available open standard for payments, relying heavily on proprietary solutions from international card schemes and global digital wallets.

These agreements aim to simplify digital euro acceptance and create a uniform user experience across the euro area.

This enables payment schemes to expand geographically and diversify use cases, allowing national card schemes to operate in new point-of-sale environments without technical upgrades.

The full potential of these standards will be unlocked once EU co-legislators adopt the digital euro Regulation.

This legislative step provides legal certainty and ensures the standards apply across the euro area, giving market actors confidence for future investments and reducing Europe's payment dependencies.