ECB engages Amazon to prototype digital euro

Amazon, the U.S. technology giant, is one of five companies chosen by the European Central Bank to develop a prototype for the digital euro.

Spain's CaixaBank, France's Worldline SA, Italy's Nexi SpA and EPI, a consortium of banks and third-party acquirers, are joining Amazon to win the bid to develop prototypes. In doing so, each company will have its own task, namely the specific digital use of eurozone currency. A total of 54 organizations submitted bids in April, of which the above five were chosen, the ECB said in a statement.

The Frankfurt-based institution said in a statement that the goal of the project is to test the quality of the technology behind the digital euro. It needs to make sure it integrates with prototypes developed by companies.

The ECB could become one of the first among the central banks of developed countries to release a digital form of its currency. Officials are targeting the middle of this decade as the time to launch a digital currency. The ECB is currently planning a two-year study of the digital euro and has not made a formal decision to launch a digital currency.