The European Central Bank reaches out to merchants. Since September 15, it has been accepting applications from e-commerce and mobile commerce companies to test the digital euro. The pilot wi
The European Central Bank reaches out to merchants. Since September 15, it has been accepting applications from e-commerce and mobile commerce companies to test the digital euro. The pilot will start in the second half of 2027 and last 12 months. It will bring together merchants, banks, payment service providers, and members of the Eurosystem. A potential issuance is still targeted for 2029, provided the European legislative framework is adopted.
The project had passed a first milestone in July. The ECB then selected 36 payment service providers after receiving over 50 applications. Banks and non-bank actors have since been preparing the necessary infrastructure for the pilot. Cointribune detailed this selection in its article on the 36 partners chosen to test the digital euro.
Now, merchants are missing. The ECB is targeting companies that sell online or via mobile apps in the euro area. Candidates have until October 27 at 5 PM CET to submit their applications. An informational meeting is scheduled for October 6.
Selected companies will have to accept payments with the beta version of the digital euro. They will work with one of the providers already approved by the Eurosystem. The ECB will notably look at their market presence, operational capacity, and ability to integrate the new payment method.
The test will therefore no longer be limited to code verification. A purchase will be made. A merchant will have to receive it. A refund could follow. And teams will be able to check where problems occur.
The pilot must replicate as accurately as possible the uses planned for a future digital euro. In-store payments, remote purchases, transfers between individuals: several scenarios are planned. The 36 providers, selected merchants, as well as employees of the ECB and 19 national central banks, will participate in the exercise.
The currency used will be a beta. In its FAQ, the ECB even specifies that the online version used during the pilot will legally be considered scriptural money under the current payment services framework. It will constitute neither a coin, nor a banknote, nor an account held directly with the ECB.
This matters because 2027 is not the launch date of the digital euro. It is a test year. The schedule had already been known for several months. Cointribune notably presented the pilot planned for 2027 and its different stages.
The ECB mainly wants to collect data that a lab does not easily provide: time required to make a payment, integration problems, user journey, operation processing, and merchant feedback.
The digital euro is not a crypto. It is a central bank currency. Yet, comparison with private digital assets regularly comes up in European discourse.
In May, Christine Lagarde recalled that the global stablecoin market exceeded 300 billion dollars, compared to less than 10 billion six years earlier. The vast majority is denominated in dollars, and nearly 90% of the market is controlled by Tether and Circle, according to figures cited by the ECB president.
Dependence on foreign infrastructures also worries Frankfurt. Nearly two-thirds of card transactions in the euro area pass through non-European companies, according to the ECB.
This debate has accompanied the digital euro for several years. Cointribune had already dedicated an article to the relationship between stablecoins and the digital euro in the ECB’s strategy. For 2029, nothing is automatic, however. The ECB indicates it wants to be technically ready for a first issuance that year, if the European regulation is adopted. The decision to actually issue the digital euro will come later. Before that, it will be necessary to see how the beta version behaves with a cash register, an online basket, and a customer who just wants to pay.
