European Central Bank Finalize 5 Partners For Digital Euro, Including One Ripple Partner

European Central Bank Selects Five Companies for digital Euro Prototype Testing.

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The European Central Bank (ECB) is to trial five prototype digital euro wallets in what it says is a key step toward the possible launch of a digital version of the Euro. The bank has selected five companies from 54 applicants to participate in its prototyping exercise to make this happen.

The ECB has announced that it will test prototype solutions created in conjunction with the European Payments Initiative (EPI), CaixaBank, payment services providers Worldline, and Nexi, and e-commerce giant Amazon to mimic consumer steps to complete digital Euro transactions.

Each firm will create a user interface prototype for one specific use case. CaixaBank will focus on peer-to-peer (P2P) online payments, Worldline on P2P offline payments, EPI on the point of sale (POS) payments initiated by the payer, Nexi on POS payments initiated by the payee, and Amazon on e-commerce payments.

Leading Provider of Payment Services

Worldline is the only Ripple partner that has been authorized by the European Central Bank (ECB) to develop a prototype digital euro wallet, owing to Worldline’s experience and assets in creating a digital wallet that can handle cash deposits without connectivity.

The leading provider of payment services shares the ECB’s and its partners’ common objective, which is to be an active participant in the evolution of payments. Contributing to major and potentially revolutionary initiatives like the digital euro can help deliver pilots and launch a successful CBDC rollout. Its entire corporate product line may be utilized to establish trials.

The European Central Bank will conclude this project in 2023 and release the findings to the public.

“This prototyping exercise aims to test how well the technology behind a digital euro integrates with prototypes developed by companies,” the ECB says. “Simulated transactions will be initiated using the front-end prototypes developed by the five companies and processed through the Eurosystem’s interface and back-end infrastructure.”

“There are no plans to re-use the prototypes in the subsequent phases of the digital euro project. The prototype tests are “expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023 when the ECB will also publish its findings.”