Europe, Full-Scale Digital Euro System Construction Begins... "No Need for Visa or Mastercard"

▲ Digital Euro, Mastercard, Visa/AI Generated Image

The European Central Bank (ECB) is building the digital euro as an open standard. The purpose is to break the payment market monopoly of US companies like Visa and Mastercard. It reflects a strong will to secure the independence of the European payment market.

According to BeInCrypto on April 24 (local time), the European Central Bank signed cooperation agreements with major European technical standard-setting bodies. ECPC, nexo standards, and the Berlin Group participated in this agreement. The European Central Bank decided to utilize commercially widely used open technologies instead of a proprietary system.

The European payment network is currently dominated by major US-based card companies such as Visa and Mastercard. If the digital euro is implemented as an open standard, European financial institutions will be able to provide their own payment services. This will enable the construction of a payment system that does not rely on specific external companies.

From a technical perspective, three core standards will form the foundation of the digital euro. ECPC's CPACE standard handles communication between contactless payments and smartphone wallets. Nexo standards connect merchants' POS systems with payment service providers' infrastructure. The Berlin Group's standard supports transfers, balance inquiries, and in-app payment functions.

By reusing existing infrastructure, implementation costs can be significantly reduced. The European Central Bank's analysis estimates the investment costs for eurozone banks to be approximately 4 billion to 5.8 billion euros. Payment terminals that are already CPACE certified can process digital euro payments without hardware replacement.

Europe plans to regain payment sovereignty and accelerate financial innovation through this measure. The digital euro aims to be a public good payment instrument that anyone can use for free. Building an open standard-based ecosystem will enhance consumer convenience. The European Central Bank is preparing for the successful adoption of the digital euro by simultaneously advancing its technology.

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