EuroPA expands with integration of DIAS and IRIS systems

As she noted, participation in EuroPA creates an interoperable European network for instant payments, enabling citizens and businesses to make cross-border transfers using their familiar national payment applications.

According to her, this development not only facilitates transactions but also demonstrates that European integration in payments can be achieved without dismantling successful national solutions. Instead, through common standards and interoperable infrastructures, national payment services can gain a European reach.

Ms. Papakonstantinou stated that the Bank of Greece actively supports all initiatives that strengthen the integration of the European payments market, foster innovation, and enhance the resilience of financial infrastructure.

Referring to the digital euro, she underlined that it is not merely a new means of payment, but a way to preserve the role of central bank money in an increasingly digital economy. As she explained, the digital euro would complement cash and private payment solutions, be provided free of charge to citizens, ensure transaction privacy, and leverage existing payment acceptance infrastructure, thereby reducing costs for businesses.

At the same time, she highlighted that holding limits and zero interest remuneration are foreseen, so that the digital euro functions as a means of payment rather than a store of value, safeguarding financial stability and the role of the banking system.

She added that, ahead of the completion of the relevant legislative process in 2026, the Eurosystem is making technical preparations for implementation, with initial pilot tests expected from mid-2027 and a first rollout of the digital euro potentially following in 2029.