European Central Bank Picks Amazon for Digital Euro e-Payments System

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are becoming increasingly famous worldwide. While ECB officials remain vague regarding the release of a CBDC, the bank is considering the potential impact of a digital euro on Europe. The European Central Bank announced a collaborative effort with five firms to develop digital euro user interfaces. The organizations include Amazon, CaixaBank, Nexi, Worldline, and the European Payments Initiative (EPI) to create a mobile application by CaixaBank that simulates the transfer of digital euros to a user’s bank account. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) transfers to other people will begin this month and continue through the end of the year. Other firms are developing user interface prototypes for point-of-sale transactions, e-commerce, and offline P2P payments. Because of its American origin, Amazon is an unexpected inclusion. Reducing dependency on multinational payment companies like Visa and Mastercard is one of CBDC’s primary goals. The omission of these companies from the digital euro markets advisory group that got announced a year ago was significant. Euro e-Payments System In the meantime, CaixaBank claims to hold a 32.1% market share in Spain’s retail payment turnover. It has also taken part in Iberpay’s trials for accepting payments in digital currencies. Despite widespread speculation, no official decision has been made regarding a digital euro. Amazon And Cryptocurrency Amazon itself hasn’t ente...