“In practical terms, a staggered approach would contribute to ensure a smooth end-user payment experience” and “reduce the implementation complexities” of trying to roll out new systems all at once, said the document, which was produced by the ECB’s digital euro project team.

The initial release of a digital euro would be for e-commerce and for peer-to-peer payments made among private individuals, the document said. Officials on the team have previously said use cases like paying wages, or applications that could align with decentralized finance, should be considered only in a later phase.

Using the digital euro for private individuals should be free for basic applications like onboarding and making payments, a separate document produced for the same meeting said – but it added there could be new laws to discourage banks from charging merchants too much for use.

Payment service providers “would be able to charge merchants,” but “legislation might establish an expectation on merchant pricing considering the current levels for comparable retail payment solutions,” the document said.

That broadly mirrors current arrangements for handling cash, although European Union laws known as the Single Euro Payments Area and Interchange Fee Regulation limit the charges that banks and card operators can make for bank transfers and credit card payments.