In a presentation on the digital transformation of money, payments and finance, European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone set out the Eurosystem’s payments strategy across retail, wholesale and cross-border payments. The core elements are a digital euro for retail use, tokenised central bank money for wholesale settlement and further work on cross-border instant payments links. For the digital euro, the ECB described it as a digital form of cash available across the euro area online and offline, intended to complement cash and support a European payments infrastructure open to private innovation. EU-licensed payment service providers, with banks in a central role, are expected to distribute the digital euro and keep the customer interface. The framework described includes holding limits, no remuneration, funding and defunding features, and no holdings for businesses, alongside compensation for distributors and synergies through a standardised acceptance network and co-badging. On timing, the ECB said it is in a current phase that started in November 2025 and is focused on technical readiness, market engagement and support for the legislative process. A 12-month pilot is due to start in the second half of 2027, and the ECB aims to be ready for a potential first issuance during 2029, while stressing that any issuance decision depends on adoption of the digital euro regulation by the EU co-legislators. For wholesale markets, the presentation argued that tokenisation can reduce fragmentation and that central bank money should act as the risk-free settlement anchor alongside private settlement assets. Pontes is due to launch in September 2026 as a bridge between distributed ledger technology platforms and TARGET Services for settlement in central bank money, with later enhancements planned. Appia is positioned as a public-private standardisation and design initiative, with its longer-term vision to be set out in a blueprint in 2028. On cross-border payments, the ECB highlighted work to link TIPS with fast payment systems outside Europe, including with India, Switzerland and Brazil and through Nexus, and its participation in BIS-led Project Agorá on a multi-currency shared platform.
European Central Bank2026-07-02
European Central Bank outlines digital euro 2029 readiness goal and September 2026 launch for Pontes
In a speech, the European Central Bank set out its payments strategy around a retail digital euro, tokenised central bank money for wholesale use and expanded cross-border instant payment links. It said the digital euro pilot will start in the second half of 2027, with readiness for a potential first issuance targeted for 2029, subject to EU legislation. For wholesale settlement, Pontes is due to launch in September 2026 and Appia’s longer-term blueprint is planned for 2028.