The total value of euro banknotes in circulation rose during the Covid-19 pandemic from €1.3tn (US$1.5tn) at the end of 2019 to €1.4tn (US$1.7tn) at the end of 2020, the European Central Bank (ECB) reports... More
The European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) are to consider launching a digital euro project towards the middle of 2021. “Such a project would answer key design and technical questions,” the two institutions say in a joint statement. More
The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched an online survey that enables consumers and industry experts to express their priorities, preferences and concerns about the issuance of a digital euro as a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and means of payment in the euro area... More
A working group set up by seven central banks and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has laid out a set of ground rules for the successful issuance of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)... More
Swedish consumers could be able to make and receive low-cost instant cross-currency transactions to and from any euro area country via the Target Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) platform once the Swedish kronor joins the platform in May 2022... More
The introduction of a digital euro “would support Europe’s drive towards continued innovation”, “strengthen the international role of the euro” and provide consumers with “free access to a simple, universally accepted, risk-free and trusted means of payment”, according to a new report published by the European Central Bank (ECB)... More
The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Sveriges Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank, together with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), are to work together “to assess potential cases for central bank digital currencies”... More
A group of 20 European banks are working together on “setting up a pan-European payment system to challenge the dominance of Visa, Mastercard and technology companies such as Google and PayPal,” French news agency AFP reports... More
ECB goes live with pan-European instant payments — European Central Bank — “Target Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) uses central bank money to settle payments individually in less than 10 seconds… TIPS means consumers can make retail payments across Europe instantly, 24/7/365… The price per initiated transaction is set at €0.002 (US$0.0023) for the first two years of operation, with no charges for the first ten million payments settled on each TIPS account by the end of 2019.”
We’re planning to launch estcoin — and that’s only the start — e-Residency — “We have identified not one, but three variants of estcoin that would benefit both our digital nation and those who use them. All three of these models of estcoin are viable and can be introduced (even without alarming the European Central Bank).”
Euro zone consumers still addicted to cash when they buy — Reuters — “Cash still dominates consumer payments in the euro zone, even as many Western economies are rapidly moving towards electronic payments, a survey published by the European Central Bank showed on Friday… The figures indicate that the euro zone is one of the slowest among big Western economies in giving up cash, trailing countries like the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada.”
European payment infrastructure provider EBA Clearing has begun testing an instant payment platform unveiled earlier this month by the European Central Bank, that will allow European consumers to make cross-border mobile P2P payments... More
Consumers will be able to make peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payments across Europe using only the payee’s mobile phone number which will act as proxy for their international bank account number (IBAN) by the end of 2017, the European Central Bank (ECB) has revealed... More
The European Central Bank is working on a system that would let consumers transfer money to each other based on a phone number or email address... More