ECB’s Cipollone Pitches Digital Euro as Simple, Low-Cost Payment Tool to Bolster Europe’s Autonomy

25 January 2026

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone on Sunday argued that a digital euro would provide a simple, widely usable public payment option that lowers fees for merchants while reducing the euro area’s reliance on non-European card networks.

In an interview with German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, Cipollone said the project would function as a digital counterpart to cash, adding a new payment choice without forcing anyone to abandon banknotes and coins.

Merchants that already accept digital payments would in future be required to accept the digital euro, he indicated, adding that fees would fall because the Eurosystem would provide the underlying infrastructure.

Standard digital euro functions would be free to users, he said, contrasting this with the account and other charges that can accompany card payments.

On storage and access, Cipollone described the digital euro as residing either on Eurosystem servers or on a user device, with the option to load it onto a card bearing the digital euro logo.

He said a stolen phone would not compromise funds held in an account, while any loss would be limited to the amount previously loaded for offline use—an outcome he likened to losing a physical wallet—while adding that users would be able to block a lost device or card.

Cipollone framed the project as strategically important, arguing that Europe should ensure that everyday payments rest on European technology rather than dependence on third parties.

He cited the example of International Criminal Court judges whose U.S.-issued cards were reportedly blocked amid U.S. sanctions, contending that a digital euro would allow continued payments across the euro area even if private networks restricted access.

Cipollone also pointed to cross-border limitations in existing arrangements, saying that transactions made with domestic cards can still rely on international card schemes for use in other euro-area countries or for online purchases, and that several euro-area countries lack a domestic payment system.

Turning to practical use cases, he noted that a significant share of payments now occurs online, where cash cannot be used, and argued that public money currently available as cash does not cover that part of daily commerce.

Offline functionality would allow payments without an internet connection, including in remote areas or during power outages, and in offline mode even a user’s bank would not learn who paid whom, he said.

On privacy and “programmability” concerns, Cipollone rejected claims that the Eurosystem would control how individuals spend, and said so-called conditional payments would be set by payers and recipients—analogous to standing orders—and would not allow the Eurosystem to block purchases.

The system would not track individual “banknotes,” and the Eurosystem would record only the transaction amount along with encrypted identifiers for payer and recipient, without knowing their identities or what was purchased, he said.

Cipollone said the digital euro would establish a European standard and shared “rails” that could help private European payment providers scale across the euro area, citing Wero as an example of a bank-led initiative that could benefit from common infrastructure.

Asked about timing and political skepticism, he contended that if legislation were already in place, retailers and IT providers would begin implementation immediately, and warned that delays would deepen dependence on foreign payment systems even before any digital euro is issued.