The European Central Bank is exploring the prospects of creating a digital euro mobile application.

Source: Pixabay.com

The preliminary draft of this application provides for providing customers with a basic package of services for making payments. A standardized approach to connecting end users to intermediaries will also be provided.

ECB board member Fabio Panetta says that the main goal of the financial institution’s intentions is to have the minimum required technology appear on the market, ensuring that intermediaries retain their role in the distribution of the digital euro. He also noted that this applies to intermediaries of all categories, including small ones, who do not have the financial opportunity to invest in creating their payment interface.

The application will meet the main needs of end users. Consumer associations and the results of market surveys suggest that consumers need an independent access channel that has basic functionality.

Fabio Panetta noted that the application is a guarantee that a customer in any geographical point of the Eurozone will be able to make online payments. He also said that the first releases are likely to offer contactless payments, QR codes, and an easy online payment method.

In his speech before the EU Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Fabio Panetta said that the digital euro will always be in the public access space and will never be programmable money. The ECB board member noted that the development of advanced services that do not belong to the basic category will be handled by controlled intermediaries.

Fabio Panetta says that there will be no restrictions on using the digital euro. He noted that the practice of narrowing the possibilities of the consumer would make the digital currency a kind of voucher.

As we have reported earlier, ECB will develop digital euro prototype with CaixaBank and Amazon.