24 April 2023

• Digital euro potentially available initially to euro area residents, merchants and governments
• Digital euro could be made available via existing banking apps and Eurosystem app
• Offline and person-to-person payments across euro area seen as highly valued

The European Central Bank (ECB) today published the third progress report on the digital euro, as well as the findings of focus groups commissioned by the ECB concerning people’s views on the features of a potential digital wallet.

The progress report presents a third set of design and distribution options, endorsed by the ECB’s Governing Council, that would feed into the overall design of a digital euro. In its initial releases, a digital euro would be accessible to euro area residents, merchants and governments. Non-resident euro area citizens might also have access, provided that they held an account with a euro area-based payment services provider (PSP). In further releases, consumers from selected third countries…