Re: [Taler] GNU Taler and the Bundesbank

[Christian Grothoff]

On 4/14/19 6:35 PM, Christoph Schumacher wrote:
> Hi Taler fans!
> 
> In German news [1], there's talk about not missing the trend to mobile
> paying in Europe and in particular in Germany. The authors conjure that
> Burkhard Balz from the Bundesbank in Germany does not have a viable
> solution at hand. I have a couple of questions about that.

Thanks for the link!

> Is GNU Taler in contact with the German Bundesbank? I think I heard so
> in one of the talks. Is there a state of the deal?

We have talked to some people at some central banks, but not ever with
the German Bundesbank.

> The current version number of GNU Taler is 0.5 and not 1.0. Is GNU Taler
> production ready?

Not really, we would indeed call it 1.0 otherwise ;-).  The most
critical feature (which is being worked on) is access to a bank so we
can do wire transfers.  There is also work required on various other
issues (the biggest one probably being wallet improvements, such as
cross-device synchronization and backup). In fact, some one at a central
bank told us that from a regulatory perspective, we would probably have
to offer an integrated backup solution.

> The German version of the GNU Taler website seems outdated, it says ETA
> 2018. Is there more to update there?

Being eternally optimistic, maybe 2019? ;-). But that is very optimistic
in terms of the regulatory approval process, which is outside of our
control. It also assumes that we're successful in fundraising, which is
not guaranteed either.

> Even with a bank that supports GNU Taler, merchants also need to be
> aware of this payment option. Given the Bundesbank statement, now seems
> to be a good time to make GNU Taler public, maybe with an open letter or
> a petition on www.change.org, directed at Mr Balz to learn about GNU Taler?

Publicity is generally welcome (RMS has done a great job promoting GNU
Taler in the Guardian). I'm not sure a change.org petition is the right
style for this at this point in time. Still, you are welcome to try :-).


Best regards,

Christian


> Best regards!
> Christoph
> 
> [1]
> https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/mobiles-bezahlen-verschlaeft-europa-den-trend.1939.de.html?drn:news_id=996965
>

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