ECB selects 36 payment service providers for the digital euro pilot

Roles and responsibilities of participants

The pilot will take place at the ECB itself as well as at 19 national central banks of the euro countries. These are: Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Finland. Selected payment service providers may also offer their pilot services in countries other than the one in which they are based.

At the center of the pilot are employees of the ECB and the participating national central banks, e-commerce merchants, as well as merchants that provide everyday services directly on site – such as cafeterias and restaurants. The test persons can process digital euro payments both person-to-person (online and offline) and person-to-business at the physical point of sale and in online commerce. Person-to-business payments in the pilot project include software-based point-of-sale systems and mobile payments.

Pilot process and testing environment

The pilot will use a beta version of the digital euro that comes close to the digital euro envisaged in legislation in terms of function and technology, but will not have the status of legal tender. The launch of the pilot is scheduled for the second half of 2027. It will run for twelve months.

„We look forward to deeper engagement as we work with and learn alongside European payment service providers in developing a secure, efficient and inclusive digital euro.", stated Piero Cipollone, who as a member of the ECB's Executive Board leads the high-level task force on the digital euro. He added: „The strong market interest in the pilot shows the private sector's readiness to engage actively and quickly advance with the digital euro project to strengthen the European payments landscape".

Background and outlook

The selected payment service providers will prepare for the pilot in close coordination with their respective national central banks and the ECB. The central bank intends to provide regular updates on the project's progress via the dedicated website set up for the digital euro pilot.

For media enquiries related to this press release, Georgina Garriga Sánchez is available at +49 69 1344 95368. The ECB's Directorate General Communications is based at Sonnemannstraße 20, 60314 Frankfurt am Main. Reproduction of the press release is permitted provided the source is acknowledged.