ECB Signs Agreements with Three Standard-Setting Bodies to Reduce Digital Euro Access Costs

According to Cointelegraph, the European Central Bank (ECB) has signed agreements with the European Card Payment Cooperation, Nexo Standards, and the Berlin Group to reuse existing open payment standards for digital euro transactions—aiming to lower system integration costs for banks, merchants, and payment service providers. These standards cover contactless payments, merchant and payment service provider connectivity, and alias-based payments (e.g., using phone numbers). The ECB stated that this initiative will help reduce market adoption costs and foster a unified digital euro user experience across the euro area. Earlier, Reuters cited an ECB analysis estimating that the digital euro could cost EU banks approximately €4–6 billion over four years.