ECB continues to work on digital Euro: Framework agreement for five components
Although there is still no final decision on the digital Euro, preparations are continuing. Five framework agreements have now been concluded.
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The European Central Bank's preparations for the digital Euro are continuing, with the award procedures for five sub-components now finalized and framework agreements signed. The Munich-based company Giesecke+Devrient has secured one of the contracts, which, if realized, will develop technology to enable offline payments with the digital Euro throughout Europe. The ECB has now announced this and also specified who is to develop aliases, fraud protection, a software development kit (SDK), and a secure way to exchange payment information for the payment project. However, the actual work is not to begin now, and the selected companies will not receive any money.
Introduction only years after the Wero alternative
The digital Euro has been under development for years, and a second round of experiments was announced just a few days ago. The aim is to counter the private providers of digital payment services, such as PayPal, Mastercard, and Visa, which are primarily based in the USA, with a European digital payment service. The digital Euro will then be available to people in Europe via an ECB wallet application. The most recent realistic date for its introduction was 2029. At the same time, however, there is still no final decision on the introduction; although a legal framework was proposed two years ago, the final legislation is still being finalized. The ECB also points this out when announcing the framework agreements.
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While digital Europe has been years in the making, Wero, a digital payment service developed by European banks and payment service providers, continues to grow and has long been available for use. However, the extremely slow preparation of the digital Euro is a “colossal obstacle” to the nationwide expansion of Wero, “because some banks in Europe do not want to set up parallel structures and therefore wait and see,” complained Hesse's Sparkasse President Stefan Reuß just a few days ago. From the Sparkasse's perspective, it would therefore be better to completely abandon the digital Euro and decisively promote Wero as the only Europe-wide payment method. This is why, for example, “gentle pressure must also be applied in politics in favor of Wero, which is already ready for use.”
(mho)
