The survey involved 321 respondents from Germany, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, France, Portugal and other European countries.
The survey participants were divided into the general public, technically literate people, salespeople, and citizens without access to banking.
It turned out that potential digital euro users are most interested in peer-to-peer payments, budget management, and the ability to use digital euro without a connection.
Many survey participants cited autonomy as the most innovative feature of the digital euro wallet. This will allow it to be used in remote areas without Internet access or in flight mode;
Respondents also noted the high degree of privacy when making offline payments with the digital euro.
However, this could raise concerns from the authorities that too much privacy in the digital euro would create opportunities for tax evasion.
The majority of survey participants called the QR code function in the digital euro useful. It could be used at self-service locations, when paying bills and shopping online.
Despite the fact that QR code payments would be slower compared to contactless payments, many merchant users chose to have consumers scan their QR code to maintain privacy.
Other features of the digital euro that potential users would like to see are payment management, access to the digital euro through existing banking apps, and the programmability of the state’s cryptocurrency (CBDC).
Fabio Panetta, a member of the ECB’s executive committee, said that the results of this study will be taken into account when developing the state cryptocurrency.
However, the ECB has not yet decided on the launch of the digital euro, and is only studying its technical and economic feasibility.
Earlier, Panetta said that the ECB plans to limit the issue of digital euro to 1.5 trillion to safeguard monetary policy from risks and not disrupt the stability of the financial system.