The Eurosystem is taking another important step in the preparation of a European digital currency. With the recent announcement of its technology partners (also see the notice view in the Official Journal of the EU), it has reached a milestone in the preparation phase of the digital euro. Giesecke+Devrient, alongside with its partners Nexi and Capgemini, is delighted to announce the conclusion of a framework agreement with the European Central Bank, as the first-ranked tenderer, to provide one of the key elements of the future digital central bank currency – the offline functionality. This will make digital payments possible for everyone in the euro area, free of charge and independent of network and power connections or the need for a bank account.

Following the framework agreement conclusion, G+D and other successful tenderers will work with the ECB to finalize planning and timelines. Under the guidance of the ECB Governing Council and in line with EU legislation, this work will cover the design, integration, and development of the Digital Euro Service Platform (DESP).

The digital euro is a key strategic project for Europe. It strengthens the independence and resilience of the European payment infrastructure and creates a sovereign digital complement to cash.

G+D supports the project with its SecurityTech expertise as the world’s leading partner to central banks for cash infrastructure and as a solution provider for crypto technology and security software. We are proud to help shape the realization of the digital euro as a technology partner of the Eurosystem.