Study: Half of Surveyed Germans 'Imagine Using a Digital Euro as an Additional Payment Option'

A new report has found that half of Germans who participated in a survey study can “imagine using a digital euro as an additional payment option.” However, the study also revealed that some three-quarters of the respondents view the “aspect of privacy in connection with the use of the digital euro as very important or important.”

Nearly 60% of Respondents Were Unaware of the Digital Euro

According to a survey study commissioned by the Deutsche Bundesbank, many Germans are open to the idea of the digital euro. The survey, which involved 2,012 German residents, found that half of the respondents could “generally imagine using a digital euro as an additional payment option.” This sentiment also applies to Germans who were previously unaware of the digital euro.

The study revealed that 41% of participants had heard, read, or seen information about the digital euro, while 59% indicated lacked awareness of it. However, privacy concerns were prevalent among most respondents.

“More than three-quarters of respondents rated the aspect of privacy in connection with the use of the digital euro as very important or important. Of those surveyed, 59% stated that the planned offline version of the digital euro, which is intended to provide a level of privacy protection similar to that of cash, was very important or important,” the study report stated.

Respondents Highlight Privacy Concerns

Despite these findings, Joachim Nagel, the Bundesbank President, claimed that Eurosystem central banks have no interest in users’ data. Nagel added that the eurozone digital currency “would protect people’s privacy far better than current commercial payment solutions.”

Meanwhile, the study also found that some respondents (15%) believed that the digital euro was intended to replace cash, while 12% thought that cash would be abolished once the digital euro became functional. Only 17% were aware that digital currency would serve as “an additional means of payment and will be issued by the ECB [European Central Bank] or the Bundesbank.” Some 16% of the respondents believed the digital euro to be a cryptocurrency.

According to a press release, the Eurosystem, the monetary authority of the euro area, will only be able to determine when to introduce the digital euro after EU legislators create the necessary legal basis.