Digital Euro – The Future of Payments?

22/3/2021

The Bank of Slovenia has organized the round table discussion “Digital Euro – the future of payments?”  which was attended by dr. Boštjan Kežmah, a senior lecturer from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

In recent years digitalisation has significantly affected financial services and the payment industry. Consequently, the Bank of Slovenia has shifted its’ attention and efforts towards research and development of central bank digital currencies. These could represent the next step in the evolution of currency and money. The aim of yesterday’s event was to discuss the challenges and opportunities that the potential circulation of the digital euro would bring to Slovenian stakeholders.

In the introductory presentation of Simon Anko, Director of the Payment and Settlement Systems Department at the Bank of Slovenia, the participants were acquainted with the current state of the Eurosystem’s activities in the field of the digital euro.

The key part of the event was a round table, which was attended by a representative of the Bank of Slovenia and representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Consumers’ Association of Slovenia, Bankart d. o. o., Blockchain Think Tank Slovenia and dr. Boštjan Kežmah. The discussion was moderated by Igor E. Bergant.

The panellists as well as the participants of the interactive surveys agreed that the digital euro is not and will not be a cryptocurrency, however, it will be crucial to establish and then solidify trust in the digital currency. While Europe should not fall behind other countries in its’ implementation, it is still to early to discuss technical solutions due to the overall ambiguity regarding the currency’s design.

More than 450 people attended the event which is a sign of its importance and relevance. A presentation of the Bank of Slovenia on the current state and the activities taking place at the Eurosystem level can be found HERE (Slovene version only).