The European Central Bank (ECB) reportedly disclosed details of its partnership with five firms to work on the growth of potential digital euro user interfaces.

Specifically, the ECB reportedly revealed its finalized decision to go with “Big Four” tech firm Amazon, fintech entity Nexi, Spain-based digital bank CaixaBank, French payments platform Worldline and the European Payments Initiative (EPI) , to individually double down on building a prototype dependent on particular use cases of the digital euro.

Per the central bank, the companies will form front-end prototypes, which will not be used in later phases of the digital currency project.

The ECB reportedly used a set of specific criteria to finalize their decision of the five establishments, based on their fulfilling “specific capabilities”, in comparison with 50 other front-end developers that responded to the central bank’s call in April. 

Officials have plans down their pipeline to have the project completed in the first quarter of next year, as included in the scope of a two-year investigation phase into the digital euro, expected to conclude in October 2023.

As interest in central bank digital currencies appears to be spreading throughout the globe, with ECB officials have been deep-diving into the potential effect of a digital euro on Europe, while adopting a vague attitude towards whether or when the bank could roll out a CBDC. 

The central bank commissioned a series of focus groups on digital payment measures in September last year, which recommended that using digital currency at online and physical stores could become a primary feature of a digital euro. 

An earlier public consultation further suggested that privacy was considered “the most important feature of a digital euro by both citizens and professionals.”