European Central Bank chooses Amazon and 4 other firms to prototype a digital euro app
The European Central Bank (ECB) has selected five companies to help develop user interfaces for a digital euro.
By Staff
The European Central Bank (ECB), has recently announced that it will be collaborating with five companies for the development of potential digital euro user interfaces.
In an announcement, the ECB said it had chosen the “Big Four” tech company Amazon, fintech firm Nexi, Spanish digital bank CaixaBank, French payments platform Worldline, and the European Payments Initiative, or EPI, to each focus on developing a prototype-based on specific use cases of the digital euro.
The ECB explained, “The aim of this prototyping exercise is to test how well the technology behind a digital euro integrates with prototypes developed by companies.”
The companies will develop front-end prototypes for the project’s digital money, which will not be employed in later stages, according to the central bank.
The ECB also noted, “Simulated transactions will be initiated using the front-end prototypes developed by the five companies and processed through the Eurosystem’s interface and back-end infrastructure. There are no plans to re-use the prototypes in the subsequent phases of the digital euro project.”
The ECB chose the five companies based on their fulfilling specific capabilities when compared to 50 other front-end developers that responded to the central bank’s call in April.
As part of a two-year inquiry phase into the digital euro, which is anticipated to end in October 2023, officials planned for the project to be finished in the first quarter of 2023.
As interest in central bank digital currencies seems to be growing globally, ECB officials have been exploring the potential impact of a digital euro on Europe while being vague about if or when the bank could release a CBDC.
In September 2021, the central bank ordered a series of focus groups on digital payment systems, and the results revealed that using digital currency at both online and offline retailers might be a crucial component of a digital euro.
A prior public survey indicated that both citizens and professionals thought privacy was the most crucial aspect of a digital euro.
