nexo standards signs agreement with the European Central Bank to facilitate digital euro payments

Why it matters:

The agreement will see digital euro payment acceptance added to nexo standards’ broader ISO 20022-based payments framework to support digital euro payment acceptance in Europe.

nexo standards has signed an agreement with the European Central Bank (ECB), alongside leading European standard-setting organisations – such as the European Card Payment Cooperation (ECPC) and Berlin Group – to facilitate digital euro payments.

The agreement allows ECB to reuse existing open technical standards – such as nexo’s broader ISO 20022-based framework – accessible to all payments industry stakeholders, for processing digital euro payment acceptance in Europe. Using widely adopted European standards will simplify, efficiency and interoperability to digital euro acceptance and will promote a streamlined user experience across Europe.

The agreement was signed during a ceremony held on 23 April 2026 at the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt. nexo standards was represented by Jean-Philippe Joliveau, Chairman of the Board of Directors, while the European Central Bank was represented by Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Chairman of the High-Level Task Force on digital euro, and Evelien Witlox, Director Directorate Digital Euro.

The agreement recognises nexo standards’ work in promoting open, interoperable and reusable standards for payment acceptance. It also helps to solidify relationships between key European standards bodies and the ECB, allowing for closer cooperation and continental interoperability. This collaborative work will support the integration of digital euro payment acceptance into nexo’s established standards framework and contributes to a more holistic approach to the evolution of European payment acceptance. For payments industry stakeholders, this can help simplify integration, support innovation and facilitate future pan-European deployment.

Piero Cipollone, ECB Executive Board member and Chairman of the High-Level Task Force on digital euro, said: “This partnership shows our strong commitment to making sure the digital euro works with existing European standards that the private sector can also use. The open digital euro standards will provide a European free alternative to current proprietary standards, make it easier for new European providers to enter the market and give European payment service providers and merchants the certainty they need to invest, innovate, and compete across the euro area.”

Jean-Philippe Joliveau, Chairman of the Board of Directors, nexo standards, added: “We are very proud to collaborate with the European Central Bank on the digital euro project. This cooperation confirms the position of nexo standards as an international and collaborative standardisation body for payment acceptance, supporting interoperability across the payments ecosystem and demonstrating the relevance of open standards in shaping the future of payment acceptance.”

Arnaud Crouzet, Ambassador for Europe and Vice-Chairman of the General Assembly of nexo standards, said: “This agreement is important because it adds the digital euro to a standards environment already designed to support the evolution of European payment acceptance. For merchants, banks, payment service providers and payment schemes, the benefit is clear: a more unified and reusable framework that can reduce fragmentation, simplify integration, support innovation and make the cross-border deployment of new payment use cases easier across Europe.”

nexo payment acceptance framework helps reduce fragmentation and promote interoperability across merchants, acquirers, payment service providers, processors and vendors. Originally developed to support card payment acceptance and its associated technical environment, nexo standards has progressively expanded its scope to address broader payment use cases, including mobile wallets, QR code-based payments and instant payments at the point-of-interaction (POI).

nexo standards will continue to support collaborative standardisation efforts with public authorities, other standardisation bodies and industry stakeholders worldwide, in line with its mission to define, deliver and promote the use of payment acceptance standards.

Read the official ECB announcement