The Eurosystem has published a comprehensive payments strategy setting out how it wants Europe’s payments landscape to evolve amid rapid technological change.
It said the plan complements its cash strategy and extends its retail payments strategy by also addressing wholesale, business-to-business and cross-border payments.
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The Eurosystem said the strategy reflects the “gradual adoption” of technologies such as tokenisation and distributed ledger technology, while aiming to ensure that “innovation can advance” with central bank money remaining the anchor for trust and stability.
Four strategic aims underpin the document. These are: keeping central bank money at the centre of retail and wholesale markets to support monetary policy, financial stability and the smooth functioning of payment systems; making Europe’s payments ecosystem “more robust” and autonomous; promoting more integrated, innovative and competitive payments for individuals and businesses; and supporting the international role of the euro.
On tokenisation, the strategy argues that the “innovative potential” should be seized and sets out the Eurosystem’s position on tokenised settlement assets.
For wholesale transactions, it says central bank money should remain the core settlement asset.
It adds that this can be complemented by private settlement assets such as tokenised deposits and stablecoins, as long as they are EU-governed, euro-denominated and properly designed and regulated.
For business-to-business payments, the strategy calls for standardisation, automation and closer integration of processes.
In retail payments, the Eurosystem said the digital euro could play a key role in supporting the development of pan-European private retail payment solutions.
The strategy also groups the Eurosystem’s main payments initiatives into a single framework, including the digital euro, work on Pontes and Appia, and enhancements to cross-border payments.
The aim, it said, is to ensure central bank money adapts to the digital age while supporting private-sector initiatives in both wholesale and retail markets.
Alongside the payments strategy, the Eurosystem reiterated its focus on cash. The ECB is working on a new series of euro banknotes featuring a new design and is backing legal initiatives intended to reinforce cash’s legal tender status.
Piero Cipollone, member of the ECB’s executive board, said: “Payments are critical for society, and they are changing rapidly. Whether it’s retail, wholesale or business-to-business payments, both domestic and cross-border, the ECB is working to ensure that they continue to be reliable, fast, competitive and open for innovation.”
