PANews reported on May 6 that according to CoinDesk, the European Central Bank announced the establishment of the Digital Euro Innovation Center, attracting 70 institutions including Accenture, Swisscom, and Spain's CaixaBank to participate in the test. These participants from the fields of financial technology, telecommunications, and professional services will jointly explore the payment functions and application scenarios of the central bank's digital currency (CBDC), and the testing phase is expected to last until October.
ECB President Christine Lagarde stressed that the results of the current "preparatory phase" will provide key basis for the official issuance decision after the legislation is passed. This cooperation focuses on merchant-side applications and aims to verify the feasibility of digital euro in daily payments. Participating institutions will receive technical specification support and carry out special tests for complex scenarios such as cross-border settlement.
