The European Central Bank (ECB) has signed strategic agreements with three European payment standards bodies to reuse existing open technical specifications for processing digital euro payments. This move is designed to significantly lower integration costs for merchants and banks, accelerating the path toward a 2027 pilot and a potential 2029 launch.
The partnerships involve the European Card Payment Cooperation (ECPC), Nexo Standards, and the Berlin Group. These organizations will align their frameworks so that payment providers can support digital euro transactions without expensive, bespoke upgrades to point-of-sale terminals and online systems.
The standards in scope include the ECPC's CPACE protocol for tap-to-pay near-field communication, Nexo's ISO 20022-based acceptance specifications, and the Berlin Group's open interfaces for account-to-account and card-based payments. By building the digital euro on these existing rails, the ECB aims to offer a European alternative to dominant proprietary card and wallet standards.
According to ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone, the open digital euro standards will provide a European free alternative to current proprietary standards, make it easier for new European providers to enter the market, and give payment service providers and merchants the certainty they need to invest, innovate, and compete across the euro area.
The ECB argues that reusing these standards minimizes scheme and implementation costs at a time when banks face multibillion-euro IT bills to adapt to a potential central bank digital currency. Earlier estimates suggested a digital euro rollout could cost European banks between €4 billion and €6 billion over four years. This partnership is expected to reduce development costs by an estimated 40%.
The digital euro will support multiple payment methods, including tap-to-pay via NFC technology, merchant-service connections, and phone number-based transfers for peer-to-peer payments. Merchants will benefit from lower transaction costs; the ECB targets fees below 0.3% for most transactions, compared to the current average of 1.5% for card payments.
The agreements land as EU lawmakers work to finalize the digital euro regulation, expected to be adopted in 2026, which will unlock full-scale investments by payment firms. The ECB plans to publish the complete technical standards by summer 2026. A 12-month pilot focused on person-to-person and point-of-sale payments is scheduled from the second half of 2027, with potential issuance readiness around 2029 if the legal framework is approved.
Officials frame the digital euro as a way to strengthen Europe's monetary sovereignty and reduce reliance on non-European payment giants such as Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal, while giving merchants access to a low-fee, publicly backed payment option.
