A new electronic payment system that is socially, ecologically and fiscally responsible, to make payments easy for all of us. This is the aim of the Next Generation Internet pilot project called NGI TALER.

The NGI TALER consortium is coordinated by the Coding Theory and Cryptology Group at the Eindhoven University of Technology and has ten other partners from eight European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the Netherlands). The consortium varies in the types of institutions, including research (Eindhoven University of Technology) and applied universities (Berner Fachhochschule BFH), small for-profit companies (Code Blau GmbH, Taler Systems S.A., VisualVest), one-structure (petites singularités), cooperative banks (GLS Bank, MagNet Bank), one foundation (Stichting NLnet) and civil society organisations (E-Seniors Association, Homo Digitalis).

The GNU Taler payment solution differs from current online payment methods, such as credit cards or bank transfers, as it offers privacy for the buyer: neither merchants (payees) nor banks can track or link payments to the consumer. This makes the system similar to cash for the consumer, bringing this level of privacy to electronic payments.

It is also a risk-free payment option for the merchant, as there is no equivalent to counterfeit or stolen credit cards, as payments are cleared and confirmed immediately like cash. No new currency is involved, there is no energy-intensive proof-of-work or proof-of-stake method, and payment approval is processed even faster than with credit cards. The European NGI TALER program enforces transparency on the part of the payee , allowing governments to hold businesses accountable for their income and tax obligations.

NGI TALER is funded as a pilot project under the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative under the European Commission’s Horizon Europe research funding programme and will run until 2026. This project is based on the free GNU Taler software, which has been developed by the GNU community and Taler Systems S.A., and which has been widely endorsed by economic experts, including experts from several central banks – including the Swiss National Bank (SNB).

The aim of the project is to make the GNU Taler available as a payment system through two European banks – GLS Bank (Germany) and MagNet Bank (Hungary). The ambition of NGI TALER is to reach the European market during the project period and to have the payment mechanism accepted and widely adopted by the end of the project.

Under the hood, GNU Taler uses state-of-the-art cryptography to achieve these features. The initial investment in the required infrastructure is low and the payment mechanism operates more efficiently than existing payment solutions, with lower transaction costs – a benefit that will be shared by consumers, merchants and banks. This makes it a viable candidate for micropayments, creating an interesting and privacy-friendly alternative to subscription or advertising-based revenues for newspapers and other publishers.

For more information visit the project website here.