HDE advocates introduction of the digital Euro

The German Retail Association (HDE) takes a positive view of work on the introduction of a digital euro, despite unresolved issues. 

In the view of the association, the introduction of a digital cash variant can ensure more efficient and independent processing of payment transactions, 

particularly in view of the increasing digitization of retail. The prerequisite, however, would be bold decisions by the European Commission and the European Central Bank.

"The digital euro can help strengthen competition in payment transactions and create a counterweight to the existing international payment methods that currently dominate payment transactions,“ 

said Ulrich Binnebößel, HDE head of the payment transactions department. 

Particularly in cross-border payments, the digital euro could, if appropriately designed, offer added value that other payment methods have not yet achieved.

However, according to HDE, for the digital euro to be successful, a number of concerns must first be cleared out of the way. 

"The digital euro must be designed and implemented in such a way that it is accepted by enough consumers and the introduction costs are acceptable for the acceptance side," Binnebößel continued.

In addition, its design should make it suitable for all payment cases, i.e., it should also allow higher amounts and offline use.

Retailers are very interested in having European payment methods, which mean more competition and affordable prices compared to the current, relatively dominant payment methods of non-European systems. 

However, in the HDE's view, regulation must ensure that the digital euro offers simple and low fee structures for accepting retailers.

"Even without an immediate acceptance obligation, retailers will do their part to make the digital euro a compelling proposition for customers. 

But the decisive factor for the success of the digital payment method will be whether consumer demand justifies the sector's investment in the project," emphasizes Binnebößel. 

The basic idea behind the digital euro, he says, is to make cash available in digital form and create the potential for innovative use cases.

Source: www.einzelhandel.de