ECB ramps up preparation phase for digital euro with calls for component providers
The European Central Bank (ECB) is preparing to spend up to €1.1 billion on outsourcing vendors to help develop its hotly awaited digital euro.
ECB calls on vendors to help create digital euro framework
The central bank has issued five single contract tenders and procurement opportunities for the project, which entered its preparation phase last November.
Identifying and selecting relevant providers to support the digital euro platform and underlying infrastructure are two key elements of this phase, in addition to the finalisation of regulations and a technology rulebook.
As such, the ECB is now calling on vendors to submit applications to lead these developments. More specifically, it is seeking companies that can establish a general fraud detection and prevention mechanism; an app and software development kit (SDK) for payment service providers (PSPs); an offline bearer payment instrument; a secure exchange of payment information (SEPI) component; and an alias look-up component.
The largest of these framework agreements is that of the offline services component, which carries a maximum value of €662.1 million, while the two smallest contracts pertain to the SEPI and alias look-up components, which both carry a maximum value of €55 million. Each contract is based on a four-year term and is due to begin in early 2025.
In its call for applications, the ECB says: “At this stage, the ECB is not making a commitment to launch any of the development work listed in the calls for applications. The purpose of the selection process is to establish framework agreements with the most suitable external providers to ensure that the Eurosystem is prepared to start developing a digital euro in the future if warranted. No decision to issue a digital euro will be taken until the European Union’s legislative process has been completed.”
Last September, ECB president Christine Lagarde told a Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs that privacy protection was a leading and essential component of the project’s success, expressing a keen desire to “address all the conspiracy theory that abounds about this” and to quell fears that “Big Brother was going to suddenly determine what to buy, when you buy it and how restricted it should be”.
