ECB advances digital euro project with new progress report

The European Central Bank (ECB) has released the second progress report on its digital euro project, highlighting ongoing efforts to establish a unified digital payment system across the euro area. The report outlines advancements in key areas, aiming to lay the groundwork for a potential digital euro launch.

The new progress report, published by the central bank on Monday, described updates to the ECB's digital euro scheme rulebook aimed at harmonizing CBDC payments across the euro area. The report also described how the bloc's central bank concluded a call for applications to select potential providers of digital euro components and related services.

Digital euro scheme rulebook

Updates to the ECB's digital euro scheme rulebook include new minimum user experience standards and further progress on a risk management framework. The report said that user research and experimentation activities are underway to gather insights into potential user preferences and to inform policy decision-making for the possible launch of a digital euro.

"The ECB will collect information from online surveys and interviews over the coming months that will focus on special target groups, such as small merchants and vulnerable consumers and the findings will be published in mid-2025," the report said.

Additionally, the ECB stated that it will join key stakeholders, including merchants, payment service providers, fintech companies and universities, to form innovation partnerships to test conditional digital euro payments.

"These test payments include those that are made automatically when predefined conditions are met, and to explore other innovative use cases for a digital euro," said the report.

An outcome study compiling the findings of the user research and experimentation activities is expected to be published in July 2025.

In parallel, the ECB has also concluded a call for applications , launched in January of this year, to select potential providers of digital euro components and related services. The outcome of this procedure will be published on the ECB’s website when it is finalized in 2025.

"The digital euro aims to provide access to public money in a way that keeps pace with the digital age, benefiting consumers, merchants and payment service providers," the ECB report said. "It would ensure fair fees for merchants, offer high privacy for consumers and support the European payments landscape."