Payment radar

Ilze Posuma, Member of the Council of Latvijas Banka

Public awareness in Latvia regarding the availability of financial services in times of crisis is gradually improving. This is evidenced by a public opinion poll conducted by SIA Latvijas Fakti in February 2026.

Nearly one third (29%) of the population is already aware of a solution developed on the initiative of Latvijas Banka and enabling card payments at selected retail outlets, fuel stations, and pharmacies even when communication services are unavailable. In August 2025, 23% of the population had heard about such a possibility.

Public awareness of this solution is expected to increase, as merchants that have already implemented it plan to inform their customers about the progress made. At the same time, Latvijas Banka plans to update the information brochure on critical financial services in the second half of the year, supplementing it with the compiled information on these merchants.

The aforementioned solution ensures non-cash payments in situations where internet and telecommunications services are disrupted. At the same time, the ATM network, including critical ATMs whose availability, power supply, and connectivity to communication centres have been specifically secured, plays a crucial role in ensuring the availability of cash. It is encouraging that 96% of Latvia's population is aware of ATMs in their immediate vicinity (compared with 93% in August 2025). However, awareness of the critical ATM network is currently low, with only 9% of the population being aware of it.

Another question in the sociological survey focused on whether residents follow the recommendation to keep cash readily available in an easily accessible place, sufficient to cover their basic needs for one week in the event of an emergency. This recommendation was followed by two thirds, or 66%, of the population.

We live in uncertain times, and while hoping for the best, it is essential to be prepared for the worst. This also applies to various crisis situations – not only military conflicts, but also natural and man‑made disasters, among others. The task of the responsible institutions, including Latvijas Banka, is to carry out preparatory work by developing infrastructure and plans for different scenarios. In the area of finance, we have made significant progress, and our experience has also proven useful for other European countries. At the same time, residents should remember that crisis situations are characterised by stress, uncertainty, and urgency; therefore, it is important to prepare for them to the extent possible. To this end, we recommend reviewing the informational material "Learn about cash and other financial services in a situation of crisis".

Jānis Katkovskis, Modern Payments Expert, Latvijas Banka

On 9 October 2025, the requirement for the payment service providers – the financial institutions – to verify the payee's name against its account number before initiating a payment (verification of the payee's name and account number) became uniformly applicable throughout Europe. It serves as an additional security feature aiming to ensure that the payer receives an informative notice on the result of the payee's name and account number verification before executing the payment order and to mitigate the risk of fraud and errors.

Latvijas Banka is one of the two euro area central banks offering the service of verifying the payee's name to payment service providers. The Instant Verification Service is available not only to interested payment service providers from Latvia, but also to those from other European countries.

In spring 2026, the "Payment radar" compiled the results from the first five months of the Instant Verification Service. A population survey on the usefulness of this service was also conducted. Its results confirm that the new security feature has provided practical benefits to the public and has prevented the possibility of payments being made to accounts that do not match the payee's name.

Overall, 57.4 million verification requests were processed in the Instant Verification Service from October 2025 to the end of February 2026. Financial institutions have the option to choose their provider of the name and account number verification service, and two of the major Latvian commercial banks have selected a provider other than Latvijas Banka. For the list of institutions using the service provided by Latvijas Banka, see Latvijas Banka's website.

A survey conducted by SIA Latvijas Fakti in February 2026 shows that 68% of Latvia's population have already noticed the verification of the payee's name and account number when making a transfer online or via a mobile app. Exactly half of these respondents report that the Instant Verification Service and other equivalent services have helped prevent incorrect transfers by alerting them to mismatches between the payee's name and account number. 41% of respondents have not encountered any issues with mismatches between the name and the account number.

Latvijas Banka would like to remind you that introducing the verification of the payee's name and account number improves security and mitigates the risk of fraud by offering the opportunity to stop a payment in cases when fraudsters replace payment details, i.e. when they indicate the name of a payee known to the payer, but replace the account number with one of their choice.

Reinis Vecbaštiks, Modern Payments Expert, Latvijas Banka

We are frequently asked when the digital euro will be introduced. It is impossible to provide a definitive answer, as the project is proceeding on two simultaneous fronts – the technical development work carried out by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks of the euro area (including Latvijas Banka), and the drafting of a legal framework for the digital euro by the European Union (EU) institutions. These processes are closely interrelated but formally separated. The ECB and the national central banks of the euro area can ensure technical readiness, but the digital euro cannot be issued without a legal framework drafted and adopted at the EU level.

If the digital euro regulation is adopted in 2026, issuance of the digital euro could begin in 2029. However, any delay in adopting the regulation can significantly affect this schedule.

To better understand the reasons for uncertainty, it is important to know how legal acts are adopted at the EU level. The process is standardised:

• the European Commission drafts a legislative proposal and submits it to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU;
• the European Parliament and the Council of the EU review the proposal, prepare their amendments, and formulate their position;
• to expedite the agreement, institutions engage in trilogues – negotiations between the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, and the European Commission aiming to agree on the final text, which is then officially approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

The European Commission published the proposal for the digital euro regulation on 28 June 2023. Afterwards, the document was submitted to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. Following two years of discussions, the Council of the EU approved its position on 19 December 2025. It essentially aligns with the direction proposed by the European Commission but includes clarifications, primarily in the areas of security, holding limits, compensation model, and data protection.

Currently, all attention is focused on the European Parliament, where the matter is progressing considerably slower than initially hoped. Despite the aim to complete the work by May 2026, progress has stalled, mainly due to the diverse views among political groups on whether a digital euro is even necessary and, if so, what form it should take. Some Members of the European Parliament have a different vision for the design of the digital euro, and they have initiated a discussion on the possibility of prioritising only the offline version of the digital euro. This proposal is aimed at limiting online functionality, justifying it with the need to prevent excessive competition with payment solutions developed by the private sector. The ECB and the national central banks of the euro area, as well as the European Commission and the majority of the political groups in the European Parliament opposed such changes.

The question of whether the functionality of the digital euro should be restricted by excluding online use was put to a vote at the European Parliament's plenary sitting on 10 February 2026. The result was clear: the European Parliament supported both the online and offline versions of the digital euro. This signalled that the initial deadlock had been overcome, offering hope that the European Parliament can agree on a common position by the previously planned deadline of May 2026.

Despite the positive development, the European Parliament still faces complex negotiations on several essential details of the regulation. Divergent opinions remain even among political groups supporting the digital euro, particularly on issues concerning the compensation model, the role of financial service providers, the principles for setting holding limits, and other essential aspects of the regulation. Therefore, it is still difficult to predict the further progress of this process and whether the trilogues with the Council and the Commission can start this summer.

The Eurosystem, comprising the ECB and the national central banks of the euro area, has recognised the digital euro project as a priority and has no wish to delay its implementation. This means that infrastructure development is already underway, based on the initial design by the European Commission and taking into account the amendments by the Council of the EU. However, if significant changes are later introduced to the regulation text at the EU level, adjustments to the technical infrastructure will also be required.

To mitigate this risk, the Eurosystem adopts a gradual development approach, maintaining sufficient flexibility to implement necessary corrections in a timely manner without suspending the project. This approach enables further development of the digital euro infrastructure, testing of its functionality, and demonstration of the practical use and readiness of the digital euro, while also allowing time for a clear political decision.

Once the regulation is adopted, the technical implementation phase will be significantly shorter than if the entire project were suspended until the final decision.

Aleksandrs Antiņš, Head of the Cash Technology Division, Latvijas Banka

The euro is a secure currency that is rarely counterfeited. This pattern is also observed in Latvia. Moreover, in 2025, both the number and the value of counterfeit euro banknotes and coins decreased.

In 2025, 1040 counterfeit euro banknotes and coins were detected in our country, comprising 455 counterfeit banknotes and 585 counterfeit coins respectively. The number of detected counterfeits has fallen by 20% in comparison with 2024 (1304 counterfeits were detected in 2024, comprising 593 counterfeit banknotes and 711 counterfeit coins respectively). The value of counterfeits has also decreased by 24%. In 2024, the value of all counterfeits totalled EUR 27 802, whereas in 2025, it was EUR 21 085.

These amounts should be considered insignificant, and the likelihood of encountering a counterfeit remains low.

2 euro coins remain the most commonly counterfeited in Latvia (536 and 663 counterfeit coins in 2025 and 2024 respectively), followed by counterfeit 50 euro banknotes (205 and 243 counterfeits in 2025 and 2024 respectively) and counterfeit 20 euro banknotes (150 and 149 counterfeits in 2025 and 2024 respectively).

Overall, 444 000 counterfeit banknotes were withdrawn from circulation in the euro area in 2025, of which approximately 80% were 20 and 50 euro denominations. Out of one million genuine banknotes, 14 counterfeit banknotes were recorded. Compared to 2024, the number of counterfeits has decreased (554 000 counterfeit euro banknotes, equivalent to 18 counterfeits per million genuine banknotes, were detected).

Although the number of euro counterfeits remains low, the euro area countries are preparing for the issuance of the next, third series, of euro banknotes. The Governing Council of the European Central Bank could decide on the design of these banknotes and the timing of their release into circulation as early as this year.