ECB Advances Digital Euro, Emphasizes Accessibility

The European Central Bank (ECB) has been busy in recent months. First, they announced that the digital euro app would go beyond the requirements set out in the European Accessibility Act and began usability and accessibility testing as part of the digital euro pilot in 2027.

On September 15th, the ECB issued a call for expression of interest inviting e-commerce and mobile commerce (m-commerce) merchants operating in the euro area to take part in the digital euro pilot. The deadline to submit applications is October 27th.

The ECB also released another call for expression of interest on September 28th, inviting private companies and organisations to collaborate in exploring how the digital euro infrastructure could support them in their innovation efforts. More detailed information is available in the related announcement published on the ECB's website. The deadline to submit applications is November 9th.

Additionally, almost ten million people across Europe and beyond had completed the ECB survey on the future design of euro banknotes by September 23rd, which is a level of participation unprecedented for such a survey.