ECB to pilot digital euro in 2027 with 36 payment providers
The European Central Bank will begin testing a beta version of the digital euro in the second half of 2027, with 36 payment service providers selected from more than 50 applicants, ECB executive board member Piero Cipollone said. The pilot will involve Eurosystem staff, participating providers and selected merchants offering everyday services, such as canteens at the ECB and national central banks, and will run without legal tender status.
Cipollone pressed lawmakers to conclude trilogue negotiations on the Single Currency Package swiftly, saying adoption by the end of the year, as foreseen in the One Europe, One Market Roadmap, would give the legal certainty needed to complete preparations. A delay, he warned, could postpone the digital euro's introduction, further entrench Europe's dependence on foreign providers and make it harder for European companies to innovate and compete.
The ECB plans a gradual rollout so that all relevant use cases are technically available from first issuance, while giving market participants time to adapt. In September it opened a call for online and mobile merchants to test remote payments, with the final selection due early next year. A new wave of innovation platform work, including conditional payments and artificial intelligence in payments, will run from January to June 2027.
Separately, the Eurosystem's Pontes platform, launched in September to connect market distributed ledger technology platforms with TARGET Services, settled the European Stability Mechanism's first digitally native benchmark bond of €1 billion on 2 November. Cipollone called it a milestone in the shift of European tokenised finance from experimentation to adoption.
On cash, the ECB invited Europeans to share their views on ten shortlisted designs for new euro banknotes, drawing almost 10 million responses. The Governing Council is expected to decide the final design concept around the end of this year, with first denominations entering circulation in the early 2030s. Cipollone said the ECB supports strong legislative provisions on mandatory cash acceptance, access to cash and the resilience of cash infrastructure.
