The European Central Bank (ECB) has opened five calls for applications in search of digital Euro service providers. The bank stated in a press release that the calls are aimed at establishing “framework agreements with the most suitable external providers” to ensure that preparations are in place to develop a digital Euro in the future. The move is not “a commitment to launch any of the development work listed”.
ECB clarified that no decision can be taken to issue a digital Euro until the EU’s legislative process has been completed. The framework agreements resulting from this call will cover only five areas: alias lookup; fraud and risk management; app and software development; offline services; secure exchange of payment information. Other services, such as payment settlement, will be “sourced internally from within the Eurosystem”.