(26 January 2023 – Europe) The European Central Bank (ECB) is considering a new digital euro application (app) containing basic payment functionalities to create a standardised approach to connecting end users to intermediaries.
The app will house the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and ensures that it can be used in any European Union (EU) country, identifying the digital euro held so users can pay and interact with it.
In his presentation to the EU Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, ECB board member Fabio Panetta emphasised that the digital euro will be freely accessible to all and will never be programmable money, leaving the development of conditional payments and other advanced services to supervised intermediaries.
“The underlying objective behind making such an app available is to provide the market with the minimum required development, ensuring that intermediaries, including smaller ones who may not want to bear the investment costs of setting up their own payment interface, keep their roles in digital euro distribution,” said Panetta.