Digital Euro – The European Central Bank (ECB) is advancing preparations for the digital euro, with the project entering a new practical phase. According to Piero Cipollone, a member of the ECB’s Executive Board, the bank will begin selecting payment service providers in the first quarter of 2026 who will participate in pilot testing of the new digital currency. The pilot itself is scheduled to launch in the second half of 2027 and will last approximately 12 months.
The shift toward selecting partners represents one of the most concrete steps in the project since the ECB moved into the next development phase in October 2025 and confirmed its ambition to launch the digital euro around 2029.
Article Contents – Digital Euro:
Partner Selection Begins This Year
According to Cipollone, the pilot will involve a limited number of entities – primarily payment service providers (PSPs), merchants, and Eurosystem staff. European-licensed PSPs are expected to serve as the key distribution channel for the digital euro.
Participant selection is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2026. For companies joining the project, this could mean a significant competitive advantage. The pilot will allow them to gain practical experience with processes such as client onboarding, transaction settlement, and liquidity management.
They will also gain a clearer picture of future costs – for example, infrastructure, compliance, and personnel capacity – which can help with investment planning before any broader rollout.
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Digital Euro – Opportunity to Shape the Digital Currency
Participating companies will not only test the technology but can also contribute to the design of the digital euro itself. Through direct collaboration with the Eurosystem, they will gain access to operational insights and the opportunity to influence how the final solution will work in practice.
The ECB emphasizes that the digital euro is intended to strengthen European payment infrastructure and preserve the key role of banks in the eurozone’s payment system.
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Response to Stablecoins and Global Card Networks
According to Cipollone, banks face threats not only from stablecoins but also from private payment solutions and Europe’s dependence on international card schemes such as Visa or Mastercard.
The digital euro pilot is therefore intended to support domestic European projects – such as the Italian card network Bancomat or the Spanish payment system Bizum. The goal is to maintain the competitiveness of local solutions and reduce dependence on global players.
The ECB also plans to set fees so they are lower for merchants than international card networks but higher than the cheapest domestic payment schemes.
Digital Euro – Legislative Requirements and Timeline
The launch of the pilot in 2027 remains conditional on the adoption of necessary legislation during 2026. If the legislative process is completed successfully, testing of the digital euro could be the first step toward broader deployment, which the ECB is planning for around 2029.
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