ECB reinforces digital euro moves

The European Central Bank (ECB) is set to allocate up to €1.1 billion for outsourcing vendors to aid in the development of the digital euro. The ECB has issued five single contract tenders for the project, which entered the preparation phase in November.

The tenders cover various components, including fraud detection and prevention, app and software development for payment service providers, offline bearer payment instruments, secure exchange of payment information, and alias look-up. The largest contract is for the offline services component, with a maximum value of €662.1 million, while the smallest contracts relate to the secure exchange of payment information and alias look-up components, each with a maximum value of €55 million.

The contracts are based on a four-year term, set to begin in early 2025. The ECB emphasises that the call for applications does not commit to launching the development work, and a decision on issuing a digital euro will only be made after the completion of the European Union’s legislative process.