Call for expressions of interest to participate in technical talks on the secure exchange of data between payer and payee for a potential digital euro

4 October 2023

When a digital payment transaction takes place, data are exchanged between the payment initiation device of the payer and the payment acceptance device of the payee. To safeguard this data from unauthorised and fraudulent access by third parties, these exchanges must meet the highest security standards. In the context of the development of the potential digital euro, a highly secure exchange of payment-related data, such as the digital euro account number (in accordance with Article 22(3) of the legislative proposal on the digital euro (COM/2023/369)), would be essential to protect end-users who are initiating or accepting payments in digital euro.

The ECB is inviting experts from the payment industry and academia to participate in technical talks on possible options for the secure exchange of payment-related data between payer and payee for digital euro transactions.

The talks will centre around the following questions:

• What are the latest innovations in the retail payment market that can ensure the secure exchange of end-user data between payment initiation and payment acceptance devices?
• What are the key considerations for a secure exchange of front-end data for the envisaged use cases, form factors and core and optional services of the digital euro?

The talks are scheduled to take place in early December 2023. They will be held at expert level as closed sessions with members of the ECB’s digital euro project team. Observers from euro area national central banks may also attend. Each talk will comprise a presentation lasting approximately 20 minutes, followed by a 25-minute Q&A session with the digital euro project team.

To take part, please email DigitalEuro@ecb.europa.eu by 2 November 2023, stating the questions(s)/topic(s) you wish to address and describing, in no more than 500 words, the technical problems envisaged and the solutions you would like to put forward.

We will assess your application based on its relevance to the questions listed above, its potential for practical application within a widely used retail payments solution and the novelty of your approach.

Background to the technical talks

On 1 October 2021 the ECB launched the investigation phase of the digital euro project. During this phase, the digital euro project team investigated how a digital euro could be designed and distributed to retailers and the public.

The technical talks are conditional on the next phase of the digital euro project being approved by the ECB's Governing Council (a decision to be expected in October 2023).