The Eurosystem has presented a comprehensive new strategy for the future of European payments, aiming to ensure the system remains secure, innovative and resilient amid rapid technological change.
The plan covers all areas of payments – including retail, wholesale, business-to-business and cross-border transactions – and emphasizes the importance of maintaining central bank money as a stable foundation while supporting innovation.
A key focus is boosting Europe’s financial autonomy and competitiveness, while encouraging the development of modern technologies such as tokenisation and distributed ledger systems. The strategy also outlines a role for private solutions, including tokenised deposits and stablecoins, provided they are properly regulated and aligned with EU standards.
The ECB highlighted the digital euro as a central element of the plan, designed to complement private payment solutions and strengthen a unified European payment landscape.
Overall, the strategy brings together major ongoing initiatives to ensure Europe’s payment infrastructure can adapt to the digital age while supporting economic stability and innovation.
(ecb.euopa.eu)
