Brussels – 20 October 2023
The European Digital Payments Industry Alliance (EDPIA) welcomes the decision taken by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) to proceed with the next phase of work on the digital euro project.
As the voice of the independent, European-based acquirers, EDPIA stands ready to participate in the upcoming technical debates and provide concrete expertise on the potential use cases for a digital euro.
EDPIA and its Members have been working closely with the ECB on the development of this project, as seen through our active participation in the Rulebook Development Group (RDG), and in the European Retail Payments Board (ERPB).
Ali Mazanderani, President of EDPIA, commented the following:
The Digital Euro can be an important accelerator for the digitalisation of payments and commerce in Europe. Yet this will heavily depend on how it is designed.
A digital Euro that only a few incumbents can effectively offer and whose price for merchants is artificially regulated, will leave little room for competition and innovation to emerge and would thus struggle to compete with private dominant payment methods.
A Digital Euro that can be offered by all PSPs on a level playing field and is subject to competitive bargaining between providers and merchants, could be set to transform the payments landscape.
Providers, ranging from banks to fintechs, must have the freedom and pricing mechanisms to differentiate themselves by building innovative solutions that leverage the Digital Euro, so that merchants can truly reap the benefits of a universally accessible and trusted European payment method.
EDPIA will continue to engage with the ECB and policy-makers to make this vision a reality, to the benefit of merchants, consumers, and society at large.
For further information on this topic, please consult EDPIA’s views on the European Commission proposal for a digital euro, click on link below.
