The European Central Bank (ECB) has chosen 36 payment service providers (PSPs) from the euro area, including the Spanish companies CecaBank and Uinku Payments Entidad de Pago, to be part of the digital euro pilot program, which will start in the second half of 2027 and will last for 12 months.
This pilot project, conceived to support the preparatory work already underway for a possible circulation of the digital euro in 2029, will allow for the verification of the technical operations and operating flows of the system, as well as refining the user experience for citizens and businesses.
During the duration of the pilot, a beta version of the digital euro will be used, which will be fully operational and have technical characteristics very close to those planned in the draft law, although without legal tender status.
The ECB has explained that, following the call for expressions of interest launched in March 2026, the Eurosystem received more than 50 proposals from PSPs, which were analyzed according to a battery of previously established eligibility criteria.
The selected candidates, which include both banking entities and non-bank payment service providers, represent different business models and sizes, as well as a wide geographical presence, which, according to the ECB, ensures a varied and representative testing environment for the digital euro.
Along with the two Spanish companies, six Italian representatives have been included (Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Sella, Isybank, Nexi Payments, Poste Italiane, Numia and UniCredit); five German ones (Deutsche Bank, DZ BANK, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale, RS2 Financial Services and PAYONE); and three Portuguese ones (Banco Comercial Português, Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Unicre - Instituição Financeira de Crédito).
Other European entities will also participate, such as Adyen, Bank of Cyprus Public Company, BAWAG, BPCE, Cooperative Bank of Chania Cooperative of Limited Liabilities, Corvus Pay, JCC Payment Systems, National Bank of Greece, Nova Ljubljanska banka, OP Retail Customers, Piraeus Bank, Raiffeisen Bank International, Raiffeisenbank Austria, Revolut Bank, Satispay Europe, Stripe Technology Europe, SumUp Limited, Tatra banka and Worldline Financial Services (Europe).
"The market's strong interest in the pilot programme demonstrates the private sector's willingness to participate actively and move forward quickly with the digital euro project to strengthen the European payments landscape," stated Piero Cipollone, member of the ECB's Executive Board and Chair of the High-Level Task Force on the digital euro.
"We look forward to closer collaboration as we work and learn alongside European payment service providers to develop a safe, efficient and inclusive digital euro," he added.
Development of the digital euro pilot programme
The pilot programme will be implemented at both the ECB's headquarters and at 19 national central banks in the euro area: Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Finland.
The design of the pilot foresees that selected payment service providers (PSPs) will be able to offer their testing services in member states other than the one in which they are established.
Employees of the ECB and participating national central banks, as well as e-commerce businesses and physical establishments providing everyday services, including cafes and restaurants, will participate in this one-year experimental period.
Thus, staff from the central banks involved will be able to make digital euro payments in beta version both between individuals, in person and online, and between individuals and businesses, whether in physical stores, including virtual point-of-sale terminals, or through e-commerce, including payments via mobile devices.
As detailed by the ECB, a portion of the selected providers, known as wholesale PSPs, will grant Eurosystem staff access to the digital euro's beta services, such as opening a beta account and executing payments. For their part, acquiring PSPs will serve specific merchants, allowing them to accept beta digital euro payments.
In some cases, certain providers will simultaneously assume the role of acquirer and wholesaler within the testing scheme.