Our payment habits are changing. With digital payments on the rise, we need to preserve people’s freedom to choose how to pay: there’s cash, card, online transfers – and soon, we could have a digital euro.
But what is the digital euro, and how will it work? Will it replace cash? Concerns about data security and government control have sparked debate around the digital euro, often fuelled by disinformation.
We separate fact from fiction as our host Stefania Secola teams up with Aidas Palubinskas from EU Finance Podcast to speak to Executive Board member Piero Cipollone about modernising our money.
The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.
Recorded on 4 November 2025 and published on 13 November 2025.
In this episode:
02:18 The digital what?
What is the digital euro, and how will it work in practice? Don’t we already pay digitally?
13:48 What will happen to cash?
Would introducing the digital euro mean the end of cash? And could it take away business from banks and other financial service providers?
16:25 How secure would the digital euro be really?
What about hackers? Will our money be safe, and will the digital euro affect the integrity of the payments system?
19:31 Did someone say Big Brother?
Will central banks, governments and other authorities have access to our data ? How private will our payments really be?
24:52 When will we have a digital euro?
Where are we in the process and what are the next steps? How are EU institutions like the European Commission and the European Parliament involved in the digital euro project?
29:17 Our guests’ hot tips
Piero Cipollone shares his hot tip.
EU Finance Podcast – the future of finance
https://finance.ec.europa.eu/eu-finance-podcast-future-finance_en
Digital euro
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/html/index.en.html
President Lagarde explains the next digital euro phase
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQd60z9jfjV/?igsh=MTV2OW4zNXp5cHJvNA==
The ECB Podcast: The digital euro, demystified https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod231024_episode71.en.html
Press release: Eurosystem moving to next phase of digital euro project, 30 October 2025
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2025/html/ecb.pr251030~8c5b5beef0.en.html
The ECB Blog: Making euro cash fit for the future https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2025/html/ecb.blog20250804~9d3993abe0.en.html
Fit of the digital euro in the payment ecosystem https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/timeline/profuse/shared/pdf/ecb.deprep251030_digital_euro_fit_payment_ecosystem_report.en.pdf
All content for The ECB Podcast is the property of European Central Bank and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Our payment habits are changing. With digital payments on the rise, we need to preserve people’s freedom to choose how to pay: there’s cash, card, online transfers – and soon, we could have a digital euro.
But what is the digital euro, and how will it work? Will it replace cash? Concerns about data security and government control have sparked debate around the digital euro, often fuelled by disinformation.
We separate fact from fiction as our host Stefania Secola teams up with Aidas Palubinskas from EU Finance Podcast to speak to Executive Board member Piero Cipollone about modernising our money.
The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.
Recorded on 4 November 2025 and published on 13 November 2025.
In this episode:
02:18 The digital what?
What is the digital euro, and how will it work in practice? Don’t we already pay digitally?
13:48 What will happen to cash?
Would introducing the digital euro mean the end of cash? And could it take away business from banks and other financial service providers?
16:25 How secure would the digital euro be really?
What about hackers? Will our money be safe, and will the digital euro affect the integrity of the payments system?
19:31 Did someone say Big Brother?
Will central banks, governments and other authorities have access to our data ? How private will our payments really be?
24:52 When will we have a digital euro?
Where are we in the process and what are the next steps? How are EU institutions like the European Commission and the European Parliament involved in the digital euro project?
29:17 Our guests’ hot tips
Piero Cipollone shares his hot tip.
EU Finance Podcast – the future of finance
https://finance.ec.europa.eu/eu-finance-podcast-future-finance_en
Digital euro
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/html/index.en.html
President Lagarde explains the next digital euro phase
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQd60z9jfjV/?igsh=MTV2OW4zNXp5cHJvNA==
The ECB Podcast: The digital euro, demystified https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod231024_episode71.en.html
Press release: Eurosystem moving to next phase of digital euro project, 30 October 2025
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2025/html/ecb.pr251030~8c5b5beef0.en.html
The ECB Blog: Making euro cash fit for the future https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2025/html/ecb.blog20250804~9d3993abe0.en.html
Fit of the digital euro in the payment ecosystem https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/timeline/profuse/shared/pdf/ecb.deprep251030_digital_euro_fit_payment_ecosystem_report.en.pdf
Banks are the backbone of our economy.
In a rapidly changing environment, they need to adapt and stay competitive to keep providing funding to people and businesses.
But so does ECB Banking Supervision. What are we doing to become more efficient, effective and risk-focused? And how are we simplifying supervision while safeguarding resilience? Our host Stefania Secola speaks to Supervisory Board member Sharon Donnery to find out.
The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.
Published on 1 October 2025 and recorded on 24 September 2025.
In this episode:
01:10 How are Europe’s banks doing?
What is going well? What about the challenges banks face, like those coming from geopolitical tensions, digitalisation and the climate crisis? And are we seeing signs of deterioration in banks’ asset quality?
04:12 Are the current rules too complex?
Are Europe’s banks over-regulated? Why does a complex business like banking need sufficiently developed rules? And is there room to make things simpler for both supervisors and banks?
05:34 Does simplification mean deregulation?
How do they differ from one another? And how will we put guardrails in place to safeguard the resilience we have worked so hard to build in the banking sector?
08:33 How are we simplifying how we supervise banks?
What concrete steps have we taken? How will these change our regular health check for banks and the way we conduct stress tests?
11:22 Who is involved in simplifying supervision?
How do we make sure that the right people are involved? And how are banks, banking federations, academics and others involved in the work that’s being done?
13:04 What does simplification mean for banks, supervisors and customers?
More efficiency, shorter timelines and better use of limited resources? And how can banking union give customers more options when it comes to products and services?
15:53 What about simplifying regulation?
Beyond how we supervise banks, what steps are being taken to simplify the rules? What is being done at the European level, and how is our work on supervision feeding into that?
18:22 Our guest’s hot tip
Sharon shares her hot tip with our listeners.
Further reading:
As simple as possible, but not simpler
https://www.bankingsupervision.europa...
Sharon’s hot tip: Making European supervision more efficient, effective and risk-focused
https://www.bankingsupervision.europa...
ECB Instagram
/ europeancentralbank
The ECB Podcast
Our payment habits are changing. With digital payments on the rise, we need to preserve people’s freedom to choose how to pay: there’s cash, card, online transfers – and soon, we could have a digital euro.
But what is the digital euro, and how will it work? Will it replace cash? Concerns about data security and government control have sparked debate around the digital euro, often fuelled by disinformation.
We separate fact from fiction as our host Stefania Secola teams up with Aidas Palubinskas from EU Finance Podcast to speak to Executive Board member Piero Cipollone about modernising our money.
The views expressed are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the European Central Bank.
Recorded on 4 November 2025 and published on 13 November 2025.
In this episode:
02:18 The digital what?
What is the digital euro, and how will it work in practice? Don’t we already pay digitally?
13:48 What will happen to cash?
Would introducing the digital euro mean the end of cash? And could it take away business from banks and other financial service providers?
16:25 How secure would the digital euro be really?
What about hackers? Will our money be safe, and will the digital euro affect the integrity of the payments system?
19:31 Did someone say Big Brother?
Will central banks, governments and other authorities have access to our data ? How private will our payments really be?
24:52 When will we have a digital euro?
Where are we in the process and what are the next steps? How are EU institutions like the European Commission and the European Parliament involved in the digital euro project?
29:17 Our guests’ hot tips
Piero Cipollone shares his hot tip.
EU Finance Podcast – the future of finance
https://finance.ec.europa.eu/eu-finance-podcast-future-finance_en
Digital euro
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/html/index.en.html
President Lagarde explains the next digital euro phase
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQd60z9jfjV/?igsh=MTV2OW4zNXp5cHJvNA==
The ECB Podcast: The digital euro, demystified https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/tvservices/podcast/html/ecb.pod231024_episode71.en.html
Press release: Eurosystem moving to next phase of digital euro project, 30 October 2025
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2025/html/ecb.pr251030~8c5b5beef0.en.html
The ECB Blog: Making euro cash fit for the future https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2025/html/ecb.blog20250804~9d3993abe0.en.html
Fit of the digital euro in the payment ecosystem https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/timeline/profuse/shared/pdf/ecb.deprep251030_digital_euro_fit_payment_ecosystem_report.en.pdf
