The European Central Bank held its latest civil-society seminar on the digital euro, featuring project director Evelien Witlox, user-research lead Nico Schmidt and communications specialist Fabian Geuther. The session, streamed live, outlined how the project is evolving as the ECB enters a new development phase and gathers feedback from citizens across Europe.
Witlox opened by noting that the digital euro aims to adapt Europe’s currency to the digital age while keeping public trust at its core. Schmidt and Geuther presented new findings from ECB-commissioned user research, including results from 10,000 consumers across ten euro-area countries and, for the first time, insights from teenagers.
Fraud fears and payment difficulties dominate the discussion
One of the most striking findings shared during the seminar was how widespread payment-related fraud has become. Over 80 percent of adults and nearly 80 percent of teens said they fear becoming victims of scams, cyberattacks or online fraud. Surprisingly, almost one in five teenagers reported they had already experienced a fraud incident linked to digital payments in the past five years.
Researchers described these figures as “very high,” especially for young users. Phishing was identified as the most common attack, reinforcing the need for strong fraud-prevention tools and simple refund processes in a future digital euro.
Schmidt also highlighted that more than half of respondents faced difficulties using today’s digital payment systems. These included forgotten passwords, website crashes and lack of digital skills. Many teens said they often help parents or relatives complete digital payments, showing that inclusion challenges affect all age groups.
Why this matters for the digital euro
Presenters stressed that these findings will directly shape the ECB’s design choices. The seminar confirmed that the public expects a digital euro that is secure, easy to use and accessible for all, with optional offline capability for everyday payments.
Privacy also remains a defining issue. More than 80 percent of adults fear misuse of personal financial data or government overreach. The ECB team reiterated its goal to design a digital euro with stronger privacy safeguards than many existing private-sector payment systems.
The seminar closed with questions from the public, reflecting continued strong interest in the project as it enters a more advanced development stage. With legislation expected in the coming years, the ECB signalled that citizen expectations will remain central as Europe decides what the next form of money should look like.