24 April 2026
- European Card Fee Cooperation (ECPC), nexo requirements and Berlin Group to work with ECB to implement digital euro
- Requirements to permit European fee options to minimise prices, develop geographical attain and diversify use circumstances
- Adoption of the digital euro regulation by co-legislators to unlock potential and supply certainty for market actors’ future investments in funds
The European Central Financial institution (ECB) has signed agreements with three European normal‑setting organisations – ECPC, nexo requirements and the Berlin Group – to reuse these current open technical requirements, accessible to all stakeholders, for processing digital euro on-line funds.
The requirements embody:
- CPACE requirements, developed by ECPC, assist contactless “faucet‑to‑pay” funds utilizing close to‑discipline communication between a fee gadget and a fee terminal;
- nexo requirements specs join retailers’ programs with the back-end programs of fee service suppliers and acquirers. They’re used, for instance, to assist fee acceptance and cash-machine transactions;
- Berlin Group requirements permit funds to be made utilizing an alias (resembling a cell phone quantity) and assist stability checks and reconciliation throughout cell units and fee acceptance in areas like digital euro transactions initiated in service provider apps on smartphones.
By leveraging these open requirements and dealing carefully with the respective standardisation our bodies, the ECB minimises adoption prices for the market and encourages early coordination amongst all concerned gamers, together with fee service suppliers and standardisation entities.
Free entry, price minimisation and coordination are significantly essential as Europe at the moment lacks a universally out there open normal supported throughout fee terminals and relies upon closely on proprietary requirements owned by worldwide card schemes and world digital wallets. Utilizing extensively adopted European requirements will simplify digital euro acceptance and create a uniform consumer expertise throughout the euro space, whereas enabling European fee schemes to develop geographically and diversify use circumstances. With this strategy, as an example, a nationwide card scheme may develop its operations to point-of-sale (POS) environments outdoors its residence market with out requiring technical POS terminal upgrades.
The advantages of the digital euro normal will materialise forward of digital euro issuance. As soon as EU co-legislators undertake the digital euro Regulation, offering certainty that the requirements will apply throughout the euro space given the digital euro’s authorized tender standing, European fee options suppliers would be capable of scale up past nationwide borders. Adoption of the Regulation will present market actors with certainty for his or her future investments and scale back Europe’s present dependencies within the space of funds.
“This partnership reveals our sturdy dedication to creating certain the digital euro works with current European requirements that the personal sector can even use,” stated ECB Govt Board member Piero Cipollone, who chairs the Excessive-Degree Process Pressure on a digital euro. “The open digital euro requirements will present a European free different to present proprietary requirements, make it simpler for brand new European suppliers to enter the market and provides European fee service suppliers and retailers the knowledge they should make investments, innovate and compete throughout the euro space.”
Ana Grade, CEO of ECPC, said: “ECPC could be very happy with this bilateral settlement with the ECB on using the CPACE normal for the digital euro undertaking, which is able to additional improve the usual’s visibility and market presence.”
Jean-Philippe Joliveau, Chairman of the Board of nexo requirements, added: “We’re very proud to collaborate with the ECB on the digital euro undertaking. This cooperation confirms the place of nexo requirements as a world and collaborative standardisation physique for fee acceptance, supporting interoperability throughout the funds ecosystem.”
Markus Schierack, Managing Director of SRC, commented: “We welcome the ECB’s choice to have interaction with the Berlin Group. Open requirements are the inspiration of a aggressive and interoperable European funds market. The ECB’s participation in our requirements course of is a constructive step for the broader ecosystem.”
The requirements have been chosen along with market contributors represented within the Rulebook Improvement Group and fulfil the targets of the Eurosystem funds technique. Extra requirements may comply with sooner or later, topic to approval by the ECB’s Governing Council.
Please discover right here chosen photos from the agreements signing ceremony.
For media queries, please contact Georgina Garriga Sánchez, tel.: +49 69 1344 95368.
Notes
Fee requirements are the technical basis for insuring unified communication between fee service suppliers (PSPs) and fee infrastructures. They make sure that contributors can alternate and execute transactions utilizing the identical “technical language”. Widespread requirements scale back complexity, streamline processes and decrease integration and working prices for shoppers, retailers, PSPs and monetary establishments. In addition they present a shared framework that helps innovation, competitors and market integration
About ECPC:
ECPC is a cooperative firm, based in 2020 by six European corporations (from France, Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain and Portugal) that handle fee options. ECPC goals to create, keep and develop a European unbiased normal for contactless funds, CPACE, from conception to certification, which events might use freed from cost. The usual’s market acceptance and footprint are very constructive in Europe and past, with main distributors implementing and certifying CPACE-compatible merchandise, each on the fee facet (card/wallets) and on the payee facet (terminals/cell units).
About nexo requirements:
nexo requirements is a world non-profit affiliation headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. As a neighborhood of main fee consultants, its mission is to outline, publish and promote world fee acceptance requirements and supporting providers that guarantee interoperability between acceptance and buying options, built-in retail and terminal administration programs.
In regards to the Berlin Group:
The Berlin Group is a pan-European funds interoperability requirements and harmonisation initiative that has the first goal of defining open and customary requirements within the interbank area. The Berlin Group is extensively recognised for its API framework requirements that assist PSD2-compliant open banking and open finance. Its requirements have been applied by roughly 80% of the European market, in addition to elsewhere. The Berlin Group just isn’t a proper authorized entity; SRC Safety Analysis and Consulting GmbH acts as its Secretariat and Editorial Lead.
