ECB calls in experts to shape how the digital euro will work in real life
The European Central Bank (ECB) is stepping up its preparations for a possible digital euro by inviting industry specialists to help define how the currency will function across Europe’s payment infrastructure – from ATMs and in-store terminals to online and offline payment solutions.
In a new announcement, the ECB opened applications for two dedicated workstreams operating under its Rulebook Development Group. These workstreams are tasked with translating policy and design choices into practical, technical rules that banks, payment providers and technology vendors can actually implement.
Two workstreams to translate policy into practice
The first workstream will concentrate on drawing up implementation specifications for ATM and terminal providers. Its mandate includes describing in detail how a digital euro transaction should be initiated, processed and completed at cash machines, physical point-of-sale devices and other acceptance points.
The second workstream will focus on designing certification and approval frameworks for payment solutions. This group will define how hardware, software and services that support the digital euro will be tested, certified and authorized before being rolled out to the market. The aim is to ensure security, reliability and consistent user experience across the euro area.
Experts selected for these workstreams will help determine how a digital euro would dovetail with existing payment rails and technologies already widely used in Europe. That includes work on interoperability with established standards, smooth integration with current banking systems and card schemes, as well as the design of offline capabilities that would allow payments to be made without an active internet connection.
Integration, offline use and interoperability
A key priority for the ECB is ensuring that a digital euro would not require completely rebuilding the payment ecosystem from scratch. Instead, it should be integrated into current infrastructures so that consumers and businesses can keep using familiar channels – ATMs, payment terminals, mobile wallets – with minimal friction.
Offline functionality is another strategic feature under consideration. The workstreams are expected to explore how users could pay with digital euro even when network coverage is poor or temporarily unavailable, for example in rural areas, during outages, or in cross-border travel scenarios where connectivity is patchy. This may involve secure local storage of limited balances on devices and robust mechanisms to prevent double spending once the connection is restored.
Interoperability with Europe-wide standards is equally central. The ECB wants a framework in which the digital euro can coexist with and complement existing payment instruments such as instant transfers, card payments and mobile apps. Harmonized technical standards would allow banks, fintechs and merchants across different countries to adopt the digital euro without having to maintain dozens of incompatible solutions.
Governance: Rulebook Development Group and stakeholders
Both workstreams will report to the ECB’s Rulebook Development Group, which already includes representatives from key stakeholders such as merchants, payment service providers and consumer organizations. This structure is designed to keep the rulebook rooted in real-world needs, rather than purely theoretical models.
The rulebook under development is intended to act as a comprehensive blueprint that defines how the digital euro would be issued, distributed and used. It will cover the roles and responsibilities of intermediaries, technical interface standards, security requirements, dispute processes and compliance obligations.
According to the ECB, the draft rulebook is being designed with enough flexibility to accommodate future changes. It will be updated over time in line with technological progress and in accordance with the outcome of the ongoing digital euro legislative process at the European level.
Legal steps and timeline: no launch before law
The ECB has underlined that no final decision to issue a digital euro has yet been made. A possible green light by the ECB’s Governing Council will only be considered after the relevant legislative act has been adopted by European lawmakers.
In practical terms, this means the ECB is building the technical and operational groundwork in parallel with the political and legal discussions. By the time legislation is in place, the infrastructure, standards and rulebook should be sufficiently advanced to support a timely and coordinated rollout, if the project is approved.
This staged approach is meant to avoid delays between political authorization and market readiness, while also ensuring that the technical framework remains aligned with the final legal mandate.
Previous calls and ongoing technological preparations
The current call for experts follows earlier efforts by the ECB to establish the technological foundation for a potential central bank digital currency (CBDC). Last year, the central bank selected providers for five key components and services after a similar application process launched in 2024.
Those earlier tenders covered areas such as alias lookup (allowing users to send payments using phone numbers or other identifiers instead of full account details), fraud and risk management tools, offline payment mechanisms, and software development kits (SDKs) for building applications that can interact with the digital euro system.
By commissioning these separate components, the ECB aims to test different technical architectures and evaluate which solutions best meet the needs of security, scalability, privacy and ease of integration. The current workstreams build on this foundation by focusing more concretely on how these components will come together in the broader retail payment landscape.
Stablecoins in the spotlight: a perceived threat to monetary control
While the ECB is making steady progress on the digital euro, it has repeatedly voiced concern over the rapid growth and systemic implications of stablecoins, particularly those denominated in euros. Stablecoins are seen within the ECB as one of the primary competitors to any future CBDC.
The central bank worries that if euro-based stablecoins issued by private entities were to gain large-scale adoption as a common means of payment, they could undermine the effectiveness of monetary policy. The concern is that money-like instruments outside the direct control of the central bank could weaken the transmission of its interest-rate decisions into the real economy.
Another major worry is the impact on traditional banks’ funding base. If households and businesses hold a significant portion of their liquid assets in stablecoins rather than in bank deposits, commercial banks could face reduced and more volatile funding, potentially driving up their funding costs and altering the structure of financial intermediation.
Why the ECB wants its own digital euro instead of relying on stablecoins
From the ECB’s perspective, a sovereign digital euro is meant to offer many of the benefits associated with stablecoins – such as instant digital settlement and ease of use in online environments – while preserving public trust and policy control.
A digital euro would be a direct liability of the central bank, not a claim on a private issuer. That distinction is crucial: it would carry no credit risk from commercial entities and would be backed by the full faith of the Eurosystem. This is intended to ensure that digital public money remains at the core of the financial system, even as payment habits continue to digitize.
At the same time, the ECB aims to design the digital euro so that it complements, rather than replaces, private-sector solutions. Banks and payment service providers would continue to manage customer relationships and innovate on user interfaces and services, while the central bank supplies the underlying safe settlement asset and rulebook.
Balancing innovation, competition and financial stability
The ECB’s dual track – preparing a digital euro while scrutinizing stablecoins – reflects a balancing act between encouraging innovation and safeguarding financial stability. The central bank is aware that private sector players, including global tech firms and crypto-native companies, are developing powerful new payment platforms.
If these platforms come to dominate day-to-day transactions using private digital money, the role of central bank money in the economy could shrink, raising questions about stability and resilience in crises. A widely available digital euro is seen as a way to anchor the system with a risk-free, universally accepted payment instrument, even in a world of rapid financial innovation.
The new workstreams are also part of this balancing effort. By involving merchants, banks, fintechs and consumer advocates in the rulebook process, the ECB is trying to ensure that the digital euro does not crowd out private innovation but instead provides a common foundational layer on top of which competitive services can be built.
What the integration across ATMs and terminals means for users
For ordinary users, the focus on ATMs and terminals signals that the digital euro is intended to be more than an abstract central bank project or a purely online token. The ECB wants people to be able to access and use it through the same channels they already rely on for cash and card payments.
In practice, this could mean being able to “withdraw” or top up digital euro via an ATM, convert between digital euro and bank deposits seamlessly, or pay at physical stores with a card or device that supports both traditional card schemes and digital euro payments. Merchants would see it appear as another accepted payment instrument within their existing terminal interfaces.
Such an approach is designed to lower adoption barriers: consumers do not need to learn a completely new system, and merchants avoid major hardware replacements. Instead, updates to ATM and POS software, along with new certification standards, would enable digital euro functionality to be added to familiar devices.
Offline payments: a key differentiator
One of the most distinctive elements under study is offline use. Unlike many private digital assets that require a constant internet connection, the digital euro is being designed to work – at least for smaller transactions – even when users have no connectivity.
This could support resilience in emergencies such as power cuts or network failures and provide inclusive access in regions with limited infrastructure. Technically, this is a complex challenge: the system must prevent double spending, maintain privacy guarantees and synchronize balances correctly once devices reconnect.
The new workstreams are expected to examine how offline-capable devices, secure hardware elements and cryptographic techniques can be standardized so that different providers’ solutions remain interoperable while still meeting strict security criteria.
How merchants and payment providers may be affected
For merchants, the main questions relate to costs, settlement times and integration effort. The ECB has signaled that the digital euro should be available at terms that encourage widespread acceptance, potentially reducing reliance on a small number of card networks and redistributing bargaining power in the payments market.
Payment service providers, meanwhile, will need to adapt their systems to handle digital euro transactions, comply with the rulebook and undergo new certification processes. While this introduces additional requirements, it also opens opportunities to build new services – from digital euro wallets and loyalty integrations to cross-border payment offerings leveraging a standardized public infrastructure.
Over time, competition between providers on top of a shared CBDC layer could drive innovation in user experience and added-value services, while the underlying settlement remains uniform, secure and central bank-backed.
Looking ahead: a gradual but strategic transformation
The ECB’s search for experts to define how the digital euro will be integrated across ATMs, terminals and broader payment infrastructure is a signal that the project has moved well beyond the conceptual stage. Technical, operational and governance questions are now at the forefront.
Even though no final issuance decision has been made, the direction is clear: Europe is preparing for a future in which public money is not only available as cash and central bank reserves, but also as a widely usable digital instrument woven into the everyday payment fabric. How well this is executed – and how effectively it coexists with stablecoins and other private innovations – will help determine the shape of Europe’s monetary and payment system in the coming decade.