ECB releases digital Euro report

The published report emerges from an analysis of a public consultation published by the European Central Bank (ECB) on 14 April 2021. The public consultation began on 12 October 2020 and ended on 12 January 2021. The majority of respondents were private individuals (94%), the rest being professionals from affected industries, including banks, payment service providers, and merchants. According to the report, the main demands of experts and the public are the protection of privacy (43%), followed by security (18%), the ability to pay across the Euro area (11%), no additional costs (9%) and offline usability (8%). Almost 50% of participants mention the need for holding limits or tiered payments to control the amount of digital euros in circulation.

According to the report, the digital Euro’s data protection is the most important feature for the public and professionals, especially merchants and other companies. Both groups supported requests to avoid illegal activity, with less than 10% of responses promoting complete anonymity. Over two-thirds supported intermediaries providing services that enable digital Euro access, and believed the digital Euro should be incorporated into existing banking and payment processes. Around 25% of respondents believe that a digital euro should make cross-border payments faster, cheaper, and possible outside of the Euro area. An ECB representative states in the report that the bank will do its best to ensure that a digital euro meets the expectations of European citizens.The answers provided suggestions for the upcoming decision of the Governing Council on whether a formal digital euro investigation phase should be initiated.