Digital euro will cost European banks €4–6B, ECB says

The European Central Bank has, for the first time, outlined the scale of potential expenses tied to the digital euro. According to Governing Council member Piero Cipollone, banks will need to spend between €4 billion and €6 billion over four years to prepare their infrastructure and integrate the new currency format. These costs amount to roughly 3% of the EU banking sector’s annual IT spending.

The digital euro project itself is expected to require about €1.3 billion for development and launch. The ECB also estimates operating expenses at around €300 million, though it did not specify whether this figure reflects annual costs.

The regulator stresses that the digital euro is intended to preserve the role of “public money” in a digital economy, reduce Europe’s dependence on global payments providers, and reinforce the region’s financial sovereignty. Users will access the digital euro through banking apps—commercial banks will provide the interfaces and services, while the ECB network will not charge fees for its infrastructure.

Cipollone said banks will be able to offset their expenses through merchant fees tied to digital euro transactions. For businesses, however, digital euro payments will be cheaper, with caps on fees that will keep them below Mastercard and Visa rates.

The ECB is now preparing to select banks for a pilot phase, which will precede the official 2029 launch of the digital euro.

The project also aims to protect the position of European banks and card schemes. Cipollone noted that changes in the payments industry are underway regardless of the digital euro, and the new currency should help financial institutions maintain a central role in the EU payments ecosystem.