ECB signs agreements with European standard setters to facilitate digital euro payments

The Shift Toward Open Payment Standards in Europe

For years, the European payment landscape has been heavily reliant on proprietary standards owned by global digital wallets and international card schemes. This dependency has often created barriers for local innovators and increased costs for merchants.

A significant shift is now underway. The European Central Bank (ECB) is moving toward a system based on open technical standards. By partnering with organizations like the European Card Payment Cooperation (ECPC), nexo standards, and the Berlin Group, the Eurosystem is laying the groundwork for a more inclusive and competitive financial ecosystem.

The goal is simple: create a “European free alternative” to proprietary systems. This approach ensures that the infrastructure for the future of money is accessible to all stakeholders, rather than locked behind the paywalls of a few global entities.

How Open Standards Will Change the Way You Pay

The integration of specific open standards means that the user experience for digital payments will become more uniform across the euro area. Instead of fragmented systems, three core technical pillars are being leveraged to streamline how we move money:

Contactless “Tap-to-Pay” via CPACE

Through the CPACE standards developed by the ECPC, the digital euro will support near-field communication (NFC). This allows for seamless “tap-to-pay” transactions between a payment device—such as a smartphone—and a payment terminal, mirroring the convenience of current contactless cards.

Backend Interoperability with nexo standards

While the user sees a simple tap, the backend is complex. The nexo standards specifications connect merchant systems with the back-end systems of acquirers and payment service providers. This ensures that payment acceptance and cash-machine transactions work reliably across different providers.

Alias-Based Payments via the Berlin Group

One of the most convenient trends is the move toward alias payments. Using standards from the Berlin Group, users can initiate payments using a mobile phone number rather than complex bank details. This also supports real-time balance checks and reconciliation directly within merchant apps.

Breaking Down Borders: Scaling European Payment Solutions

One of the most significant future trends is the ability for national payment schemes to expand geographically without massive infrastructure investments. Currently, many European countries rely on international schemes because they lack a universally available open standard.

With the adoption of open standards, a national card scheme could potentially expand its operations to point-of-sale (POS) environments outside its home market without requiring technical upgrades to the terminals. This promotes monetary sovereignty and reduces the economic security risks associated with over-reliance on non-European providers.

For this potential to be fully unlocked, the adoption of the digital euro Regulation by co-legislators is essential. This legislation will provide the legal certainty necessary for market actors to invest in these open standards, knowing they will apply across the entire euro area due to the digital euro’s legal tender status.

The Road to Issuance: What to Expect

The transition to a digital euro is a phased process. Following the completion of a preparation phase in November 2023, the Eurosystem has moved into the next stage of technical readiness.

According to ECB guidelines, the timeline depends heavily on the legislative process. If the necessary Regulation is adopted in 2026, the following milestones are anticipated:

• Mid-2027: Start of pilot exercises and initial transactions.
• 2029: Potential first issuance of the digital euro to the public.

Once issued, the digital euro will serve as a digital form of cash—available free of charge, secure, and private—complementing existing banknotes, and coins.

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