The digital euro is a promising step forward for Europe, with the potential to transform how money moves across the continent.
So far, much of the debate has centred on payments sovereignty and consumer wallets, and both certainly matter. A trusted form of central bank money will complement cash while providing a European, sovereign alternative to commercial payment solutions, including those operated by international providers.
However, the digital euro has far more innovative potential: to support a new generation of B2B and embedded payments services across Europe.
If the infrastructure built around the central bank digital currency is easy to deploy within existing platforms and processes, European financial services – and, ultimately, their end users – will reap the rewards.
Enabling new services
Creating common infrastructure for digital euro payments is critical. Europe could give banks, fintechs and payment providers a platform on which to develop new services for consumers and businesses.
Reducing friction between European markets makes it easier for businesses to reach new customers, enter new markets and develop services that are difficult to deliver across today’s fragmented payment landscape.
Imagine a marketplace that can pay sellers across borders more efficiently, or a retailer settling with overseas suppliers as easily as with domestic ones.
Realising these benefits will depend on the services and support built around the digital euro, and how effectively they meet business needs.
Lessons from embedded finance adoption
The pace of adoption of embedded finance in Europe is an interesting case study for the rollout of digital euro-enabled services. It demonstrates that technology alone is not enough to guarantee successful deployment.
The entire premise of embedded finance is about seamless access to financial services. But implementations are still dogged by complexity.
Even though the technology is widely available, deployments are all too often delayed and scaling initial solutions can falter. This can be caused by integration complexity with third parties, varying standards and a lack of implementation support.
Drawing on interviews with more than 150 senior leaders across banks, fintechs, trading platforms and digital asset firms in the UK and Western Europe, research commissioned by my company from Visa Consulting & Analytics has found that revenue growth and international expansion for embedded finance products rely on close support across integration and deployment.
81% of CFOs say they need expert support to navigate the complexity of embedded finance. Two in five respondents have seen the international expansion of embedded finance delayed when provider support falls short.
The ability to achieve something technically is not the same as having the knowledge and expertise to build technology that works for every business.
This illustrates the vital role that fintechs and payment providers play in guiding customers through the complexity of financial infrastructure and compliance.
Policymakers should therefore consult this ecosystem of business payments and cross-border commerce from the outset, ensuring the digital euro is designed to support long-term commercial growth across Europe.
The interoperability challenge
Payment innovation is developing across a growing range of public and private initiatives. However, regional differences in technology, governance, and regulation, alongside the legacy infrastructure that underpins much of the financial system, are creating interoperability challenges.
Without a connective tissue between new and existing systems, emerging forms of digital money risk developing on separate rails rather than making payments simpler and more connected.
The scale of this challenge is evident in the enduring problems posed by cross-border payments.
In its latest progress assessment, published in October 2025, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) found that efforts to improve the speed, cost and transparency of international payments had yet to deliver tangible improvements for end users at a global level. Progress against key measures had been slight, making it unlikely that the G20’s 2027 targets would be achieved globally. These include reducing the average cost of cross-border retail payments to 1% or less and ensuring that at least three-quarters of funds are available to recipients within one hour.
The importance of interoperability is also reflected in wider industry initiatives. In May 2026, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published the results of the Project Agorá prototype, which explores how wholesale tokenised central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits could operate on shared infrastructure. Developed with seven central banks and more than 40 regulated financial institutions, the initiative reflects growing recognition that new forms of money need to work across institutions and existing financial systems.
Building a connected environment
An interoperable digital euro needs an open ecosystem around it. Common standards and well-documented APIs will enable banks, fintechs, and regulated payment providers to integrate the digital euro into the services that businesses already use.
A new form of money must also connect with the processes surrounding a transaction: compliance, reconciliation, accounting and the customer experience. Clear participation routes for regulated providers will encourage competition and innovation, widen distribution and allow products to be developed around different business needs.
Open banking offers a useful precedent. Regulation created access to financial data, but the value came from the providers that used it to build new services and customer experiences.
The digital euro can follow a similar path – embedded into invoicing tools, accounting platforms, marketplaces and B2B payment systems. This way, providers can make it easier for businesses to manage payments, automate processes and operate across European markets.
The value of specialist expertise
Technology is only part of what determines the value businesses gain from payment innovation. The Visa Consulting & Analytics research found that 70% of CFOs say gaps in provider service are holding back payment performance.
Yet service is not always given the same priority as technology when businesses select a payment partner. As new forms of money develop, providers that combine scalable technology with responsive service and specialist expertise will have an important role in helping businesses realise the benefits.
Design for real-world use
The digital euro must be designed around real-world use cases, with the wider ecosystem consulted on business functionality, such as automated payments and cross-border settlement, from the start. Common standards and clear routes for fintechs and regulated payment providers to participate alongside banks are vital.
An open system is critical to ensuring the digital euro is part of the systems businesses already rely on, while giving providers the flexibility to develop products in response to changing commercial needs.
With the right foundations, the digital euro will deliver benefits surpassing the sovereignty ambitions cited by many. It has the potential to support a new generation of embedded payment services that ultimately help businesses to more easily collect, hold, convert and send money across Europe.
James Simcox, Chief Product Officer at Equals, a Fintech providing expense management, payments and multi-currency accounts. Equals Money PLC is authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority to provide payment services. Equals surpassed £58 billion in transaction processing volume in 2025/26.