The Digital, Programmable Euro: Statement by the FinTech Council of the German Federal Ministry of Finance (Unofficial Translation)

On July 23, 2020, the FinTech Council of the German Federal Ministry of Finance (German: FinTechRat des Bundesministerium der Finanzen) published a statement about the digital, programmable Euro. With this article, we provide an unofficial translation of the German version of the paper with the goal to make the content also available to non-German speaking readers. More information can be found on the website of the German Federal Ministry of Finance. The PDF document can be found here. — Authors of the unofficial translation: Philipp Sandner, Jonas Gross

Abstract

The purpose of this document is first to define the term ‘digital, programmable Euro’. Due to the increasing demand for a programmable Euro, we explain the reasons why the programmable Euro is beneficial e.g. for the industry and end users. The main benefits are increasing efficiency in cross-border payments, automation, integration of delivery versus payment in one platform, and enabling micropayments. The use of the programmable Euro is particularly beneficial in the context of the machine economy — the next stage of the digital transformation — especially for Germany (keywords: autonomous driving, Industry 4.0, Internet of Things)…