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The father of the digital euro: ECB board member Fabio Panetta
Photo:
REMO CASILLI / REUTERS
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Panetta, ECB President Christine Lagarde has announced that the central bank could introduce the digital euro in five years at the latest.
What is it, what is it for?
Panetta:
People are paying less and less with cash and more and more digitally, at the supermarket checkout or on the Internet.
Every second European would prefer to pay digitally, and the pandemic has accelerated this development.
As a complement to cash, people want an efficient digital means of payment that protects their data and is accepted across the Eurozone.
We want to be able to react quickly to this need, because the trend will intensify.
SPIEGEL:
How should the digital euro work?
Panetta:
The details have not yet been finalized, we have only just completed the consultation phase.
The aim of a digital euro would be to provide an alternative to other digital means of payment that is simple, widely accepted, and secure and reliable.
We would continue to offer cash.
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