The European Central Bank is convening some of the most influential voices in digital finance for a full-day conference in Frankfurt on June 15, 2026. The event, titled “Money in Transition: Digitalisation and Innovation in Payments,” will run from 9:00 to 17:15 CET in a hybrid format, with ECB President Christine Lagarde delivering a pre-recorded keynote at 9:30 CET.
The guest list reads like a who’s who of European financial policy. European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, representatives from ESMA, and senior executives from Swift and BNP Paribas are all slated to participate. Closing remarks will come from Thomas Vlassopoulos, the ECB’s Director General of Market Infrastructure and Payments.
Four sessions, one mission: making European payments work in a digital world
The conference is structured around four themed sessions, each targeting a different pressure point in Europe’s payments infrastructure. Topics include how to foster digital finance across the continent, the potential of tokenised markets, wholesale digital money, and the development of a more robust euro retail payments ecosystem.
The ECB’s Governing Council decided in October 2025 to advance the digital euro project into its next preparation phase. This conference is, in many ways, the public-facing companion to that internal decision.
