Is it time for a digital euro?

What is a digital euro? What would its benefits be and how would it affect the way we make payments? When could it be ready?

Our host Michael Steen discusses these questions and more with Ulrich Bindseil, who is responsible for market infrastructures and payments at the ECB.

The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.

Published on 6 November 2020 and recorded on 26 October 2020.

In this episode:

01:10 – What is money?

What money is, what the differences between central bank money and commercial bank money are, and where a digital euro comes in.

05:23 – The development of digital payments and the benefits of a digital euro.

How digital payments have developed over the last few years, what different kinds of digital payments already exist and how they differ, and what the benefits of a digital euro might be.

12:12 – The impact on digital payments and design options

How I will be able to pay in the future? What could a digital euro technically look like.

18:17 – The way forward and next steps

When a digital euro will be ready and how and why to have your say on its design.

Further reading:

Report on a digital euro

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/Report_on_a_digital_euro~4d7268b458.en.pdf

Public consultation on a digital euro

https://epsilon.escb.eu/limesurvey3/434111?lang=en

Tiered CBDC and the financial system

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpwps/ecb.wp2351~c8c18bbd60.en.pdf

European Central Bank

www.ecb.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.html