ECB Selects 36 Providers for Digital Euro Pilot Starting in 2027

The European Central Bank selected 36 payment service providers for a 12-month digital euro pilot planned for the second half of 2027, advancing Europe’s effort to create a cross-border public payment option.

The digital euro would be electronic central-bank money issued by the ECB for online and offline use across the euro area. It would not be a cryptocurrency or a commercial-bank deposit, and it would operate alongside existing payment systems and cash.

The ECB could be ready for a potential first digital-euro issuance in 2029 if the necessary European Union (EU) regulation is adopted in 2026. The central bank will decide whether to issue the digital euro only after the regulation is adopted.

The initiative is designed to reduce Europe’s reliance on non-European payment infrastructure. More than two-thirds of euro-area card transactions are processed under business rules set by non-European companies, while 13 euro-area countries depend on international card schemes or mobile-payment solutions for in-store payments.

The project is expected to require about €1.3 billion in development costs through the potential first issuance. Annual operating costs are projected at approximately €320 million from 2029. Euro-area banks could face investment costs ranging from €4 billion to €5.8 billion over four years.

Basic digital-euro services would be free for consumers, while merchant-service and interchange fees would be capped. The digital euro would complement cash rather than replace it.

Europe’s payments market remains divided among national systems, including iDEAL in the Netherlands, Bizum in Spain and Blik in Poland. No existing European payment scheme operates seamlessly across the entire euro area. The ECB’s earlier digital euro innovation program is separate from the 12-month pilot.

The ECB recorded 77.7 billion noncash payments worth €116.0 trillion across the euro area during the first half of 2025. Card payments represented 57% of those transactions.

The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee backed the digital-euro proposal 43-14, with one abstention, on June 23, 2026. Parliament later voted 416-169, with 22 abstentions, to proceed with negotiations on the digital-euro legislation.