The Eurosystem is planning to run a twelve month pilot for the digital euro starting in the second half of 2027, with 36 payment service provider (PSP) participants unveiled by the European Central Bank (ECB) today. The PSPs are established in 16 countries, although the pilot itself will take place at the ECB and 19 national central banks, with the gaps covered by PSPs from other jurisdictions. This phase of the pilot is not intended to be available to the public, but instead involves Eurosystem staff making payments using the beta version of the digital euro, including to merchants such as staff cafeterias.
Last month the digital euro passed a major hurdle with the approval of draft legislation by the ECON committee. Last week the full European Parliament voted in favor of entering trilogue negotiations with the European Commission and the Council.
The pilot participants will be involved in different aspects of a transaction, with some acting as merchant acquirers and others supporting users who wish to on and off ramp to the digital euro and make payments.
There is a broad array of participants, ranging from two of the EU’s seven global systemically important banks (France’s BPCE and Deutsche Bank) to EU subsidiaries of international fintechs such as Stripe and Revolut, major merchant acquirers such as Nexi and Worldline, and much smaller institutions. However, the geographic representation is somewhat uneven.
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