The Bank of Finland has announced the bank would be looking to develop an instant payment solution and adopt the digital euro.
The Bank of Finland recently announced a press release on its roadmap for payments in the economy. It stated a combination of an instant payment solution and the digital euro was the most appropriate. Both could facilitate a secure digitized economy, said the central bank. Tuomas Välimäki, a Bank of Finland board member, claimed central bank money should still be important in a digital society.
The central bank said digitization and real-time payments were the core themes of the payments scenario today. According to the same lines, the bank would participate in creating an instant payment solution. Along with it, it would also adopt the digital euro. On the other hand, the bank noted the extensive investigation phase for the digital euro. It said banks and other payment institutions would distribute the digital currency.
Välimäki said, “The possible introduction of a digital euro would give consumers the option of paying with central bank money wherever electronic payment is accepted. In practice, consumers would be able to make payment transactions using similar devices to those used for current electronic payments.”
Meanwhile, the instant payment solution would be created along European standards. The Payments Council will launch it and is coordinating with the Bank of Finland on the same.
Thereafter, the press release by the bank said the solution will make retail payments more competitive and resilient. Välimäki also revealed the goal of the solution, which was to create a payment method that did not depend on payment card rails.
The adoption of the digital euro is steadily gaining shape across Europe. It could serve as a leading story of a successful CBDC with wide use cases. The European Central Bank is the leading proponent of the digital euro.