Piet Mallekoote studied Macroeconomics at the University of Amsterdam. After 25 years at De Nederlandsche Bank, he became CEO of Currence (iDEAL) in 2006 and the Dutch Payments Association in 2011, retiring from both in 2021. He later joined the ECB Digital Euro Market Group and currently holds advisory and supervisory roles.

Retail CBDCs are moving from experimentation towards real-world implementation—but widespread adoption is far from guaranteed. This panel explores the key challenges, but also what it takes to build public trust, create compelling use cases and encourage uptake among consumers and merchants, while ensuring accessibility, privacy and seamless integration with existing payment systems.