Digital euro will never be programmable money — sell pay-on-delivery as your paid add-on

The proposed digital euro Regulation says the digital euro must stay fully fungible cash in digital form. It cannot be programmable money — units locked to certain goods, places, or expiry dates. That ban is still a proposal under trilogue, but the ECB already treats it as a firm design line.

What you can sell is different: conditional payments. Think pay-on-delivery or other “release when X happens” flows. Basic digital euro services cover ordinary P2P, shop, and e-commerce payments (plus standing orders). Other conditional payments sit outside that free basic basket, so they are value-added services you may charge for.

Build the product logic and refund path now, and watch the scheme rulebook for any common standards or settlement support (such as fund reservation) the Eurosystem may add if the market asks.