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Sunday Nov 9 2025 07:20
2 min
Italian banks have signaled their support for the European Central Bank (ECB)'s digital euro initiative, but are urging the ECB to spread the implementation costs over multiple years, citing the significant financial burden on the sector. Marco Elio Rottigni, General Manager of the Italian Banking Association (ABI), stated during a press seminar in Florence, according to a Reuters report on Friday, "We're in favour of the digital euro because it embodies a concept of digital sovereignty."
Rottigni further elaborated, "Costs for the project, however, are very high in the context of the capital expenditure banks must sustain. They could be spread over time." These remarks come as the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) project faces pushback from certain French and German banks, which worry that the introduction of an ECB-backed retail wallet could potentially drain deposits from commercial lenders.
Timeline and Challenges Ahead
During its October 29–30 meeting in Florence, the ECB's Governing Council gave the green light to move the project into its next phase following a two-year preparatory period. A pilot phase is anticipated to commence in 2027, with a full rollout provisionally scheduled for 2029, contingent upon the adoption of EU legislation in 2026.
European Parliament member Fernando Navarrete, who is leading the parliament's review of the proposal, recently presented a draft report calling for a scaled-down version of the digital euro to protect private payment systems such as Wero, a joint initiative by 14 European banks, as outlined in the report. Rottigni suggested that Europe should pursue a "twin approach," effectively combining the ECB's digital euro with digital currencies supported by commercial banks. "What Europe shouldn't do is fall behind," he cautioned.
ECB's Deals with Tech Firms
Last month, the ECB finalized framework agreements with seven technology providers to assist in the development of a potential digital euro. These agreements encompass fraud and risk management, secure payment data exchange, and software development. Included among the participating firms are fraud-detection specialist Feedzai and security technology company Giesecke+Devrient (G+D).
According to the ECB, the selected firms will also be responsible for developing features such as “alias lookup,” which will enable users to send and receive payments without requiring knowledge of the recipient’s payment service provider, as well as offline payment capabilities.
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