How we pay is changing rapidly and euro-area consumers are increasingly showing a preference for electronic payment instruments over cash. To safeguard the role of public money and maintain trust in the euro, the Eurosystem is exploring the benefits of a safe digital euro that is accepted everywhere.
Cash would continue to be available as a means of payment; nevertheless, at a time when digital interactions are always on the increase, money must adapt to people's changed payment preferences, at the same time guaranteeing inclusion and confidentiality.
Issuing a digital euro would ensure that public money remains an option available to everyone, providing a European-wide payment instrument that is easy to use. It would also provide an alternative payment network to those operated by major card and online payment solutions providers, often non-European, thereby facilitating the provision of new services by supervised intermediaries at European level.
The risk that a handful of technology companies might dominate the payments market makes the benefits of a digital euro seem even greater. A digital euro would play a key role in promoting competition, protecting privacy and preserving the stability of the financial and monetary system, at the same time strengthening the euro area's strategic autonomy and monetary sovereignty.
A digital euro would make life easier by providing something that currently does not exist: a digital means of payment accepted throughout the euro area for all types of payment, in shops, online and between citizens and public administrations or person to person. Like cash, a digital euro would be risk-free, widely accessible, easy to use and free for basic use.
Simplifying ordinary and online payments
The introduction of a digital euro would make payments easier for everyone by providing an additional secure payment option accepted throughout the euro area. Like cash, everyone could pay with a digital euro free of charge, including for online payments, without necessarily needing a bank account or a payment card. A digital euro would be designed to leave no one behind, including the most vulnerable, making it possible for everyone to pay digitally.
Protection of privacy
Privacy is one of the most important features of a digital euro. A digital euro would be designed to ensure a higher level of privacy than that typically offered by the other digital payment methods currently available.
Offline payments would ensure the highest possible level of privacy, comparable to that of cash, as any offline payment transaction data would only be known to the payer and the payee. Even when you pay online, the Eurosystem would not be able to link you directly to your payments.
A more resilient Europe
A digital euro would strengthen the euro-area economy. It would support the euro area's strategic autonomy and monetary sovereignty by making European payments more competitive and reducing dependence on non-European payment service providers. In addition, a digital euro would seek to promote financial inclusion, including digital inclusion, and would foster further innovation by private payment service providers.
To find out more, visit the ECB website.
