To test its digital euro, the European Central Bank (ECB) has teamed with five corporations, including Amazon. According to an announcement by the ECB on September 15, five firms will work together to build prototype user interfaces for the digital euro. The integration of the digital euro with these interfaces will be evaluated in simulated transactions.
Amazon, the most renowned partner, will develop a payment interface for eCommerce. It is unknown if the corporation will alter its official storefront or create a new experience.
Today’s revelation does not suggest that Amazon intends to adopt the digital euro should the ECB ever introduce one.
The Spanish bank CaixaBank and the European payments processor Worldline are collaborating on the project. These businesses will develop separate interfaces for online and offline peer-to-peer payments.
The European Payments Initiative (EPI) and Nexi will provide interfaces for point-of-sale transactions. Payer-initiated transactions will emphasise EPI’s solution, whereas payee-initiated transactions will be the focus of Nexi’s.
These five firms were chosen from a pool of 54 that replied to an early request for expressions of interest.
Despite the excellent reputation of any organisation, their work may have minimal long-term influence. The European Central Bank stated in its release today that there are no plans to reuse the prototypes in further phases of the digital euro project.
In 2023, the experiment’s results will be released.
According to recent sources, a legislative framework for the digital euro will also be introduced in 2023. According to some predictions, a digital euro might be introduced around 2025.
