Banks underestimate new business opportunities with the digital euro

The digital euro will offer completely new opportunities for financial products and customer loyalty, said Nagel. “And in the next few years it will be important for us to be able to convince the banks, and the financial service providers as a whole, that there are many new business ideas in front of them,” he noted. According to previous statements, the Bundesbank President expects that it will be possible to pay with the digital euro in around five years. With the project of a digital euro, the European Central Bank (ECB) wants to counteract the increasing competition in digital payment transactions from US companies such as Paypal and Apple Pay and the advance of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The aspect of Europe’s sovereignty in payment transactions also plays an important role.