ECB selects 36 firms for digital euro trials ahead of 2027 pilot

The European Central Bank has named 36 payment service providers to take part in digital euro trials ahead of a 12-month pilot scheduled for the second half of 2027. Participants include fintechs such as Stripe and Revolut alongside banks including Deutsche Bank, UniCredit and France’s BPCE.

The ECB opened a call for interest in March 2026 and received more than 50 applications from companies across the euro area. The trials will be run by the ECB together with the national central banks of 19 euro-area members to test technical and commercial readiness prior to any potential token issuance.

The selected group mixes fintech firms, traditional banks and non-bank payment providers. Italy has the largest representation with seven firms: UniCredit, Poste Italiane, Nexi Payments, Banca Sella, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Isybank and Numia. Germany has five participants, while Portugal and Greece each have three.

Companies will take on different roles in the trial. Some will provide user access to beta digital euro services, others will enable merchants to accept payments, and several will do both. Selected providers may offer pilot services beyond their home markets to expand the testing environment.

Piero Cipollone, an ECB executive board member who chairs the high-level task force on the digital euro, welcomed private-sector interest and urged close cooperation during the trials. He stated: “We look forward to deeper engagement as we work with and learn alongside European payment service providers in developing a secure, efficient and inclusive digital euro.”

Central banks from member states including Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands will take part in the pilot. The trial is intended to inform decisions on design, interoperability with existing payment systems and the practicalities of making a digital euro available to consumers and merchants.

Other jurisdictions are pursuing related experiments. In the United States, lawmakers have moved to restrict the Federal Reserve’s ability to issue a central bank digital currency, and South Korea plans tests of tokenized government bonds with a CBDC in 2027.