The European Union is preparing to launch the digital euro, a new electronic form of central bank money. This digital currency will introduce the Digital Euro Account Number, or DEAN, an 18-character identifier used specifically for digital euro credit accounts.
The Digital Euro Service Platform automatically assigns each DEAN, which payment providers retrieve after user onboarding. While the DEAN must be printed on physical cards, daily transactions will utilize alias solutions like phone numbers to ensure ease of use.
Operated by the European Central Bank and national central banks, this infrastructure uses anonymized identifiers to maintain privacy. Institutions are legally required to inform customers of their DEAN as the ECB also works on redesigned physical banknotes.