Who made the cut The @ecb has named 36 payment service providers to participate in its digital euro pilot, the central bank announced on Tuesday. The selection followed a call for expressions
The @ecb has named 36 payment service providers to participate in its digital euro pilot, the central bank announced on Tuesday. The selection followed a call for expressions of interest in March 2026, with the Eurosystem receiving more than 50 applications.The chosen firms include fintechs such as Stripe and Revolut alongside traditional lenders including Deutsche Bank, UniCredit, and BPCE.The selected participants span a broad range of business models and sizes, with the pilot taking place at the ECB and 19 national central banks across the euro area.
Italy had the largest number of selected companies at seven, including UniCredit, Poste Italiane, and Nexi Payments. Germany followed with five, while Portugal and Greece each had three.
The pilot aims to support preparatory work for the potential issuance of a digital euro and is due to start during the second half of 2027 for a period of 12 months.It is intended to assess technical infrastructure, operational processes, and user experience, allowing person-to-person and person-to-business payments to be tested in both online and offline environments.The pilot will use a beta version of the digital euro that is functionally and technically close to the digital euro as foreseen in the draft legislation but will not have legal tender status.
The ECB aims to be ready for a potential first issuance of the digital euro during 2029, assuming the digital euro Regulation is adopted in 2026.The ECB has consistently maintained that it cannot issue the currency unless the legislation is adopted by EU lawmakers.
The motivation is partly strategic. The ECB has been working on the digital euro for years, partly to wean the bloc off US-based payment providers.Europe's payments landscape is today dominated by non-European providers, and the continent lacks a digital solution accepted across the euro area, making it dependent on foreign-owned companies in an increasingly fragmented world. Dollar-backed stablecoins such as $USDT and $USDC have also been gaining ground inside the EU, sharpening the urgency of a public alternative. While Europe is expanding testing of its proposed central bank digital currency, the US has moved to block the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC.
The digital euro would be available free of charge to consumers through supervised payment providers, and the ECB has sought to counter concerns that it could lead to the disappearance of physical money or weaken privacy protections.Under the current plan, the digital euro would not pay interest and holdings would likely be capped to avoid significant outflows from commercial bank deposits.
Sources:ECB Official Press Release: 36 Payment Service Providers Selected for Digital Euro PilotEuronews: ECB selects 36 payment providers for digital euro pilotECB Digital Euro Pilot: Official Project Page
