Digital euro to cut costs for SMEs and reduce reliance on non-European payment providers, ECB says

The digital euro would help lower payment costs for small businesses burdened by expensive international card schemes and reduce Europe’s reliance on non-European payment providers that currently handle nearly 70 per cent of card transactions, European Central Bank executive board member Piero Cipollone has said.

In an interview with the Cyprus News Agency, Cipollone described the digital euro as a “digital version of cash”, designed to preserve the simplicity and freedom of physical...