The European Central Bank (ECB) is taking a further step in the development of the digital euro, an electronic version of the central bank currency that would complement banknotes and coins, without replacing them. It has selected 36 payment service providers (PSPs) across the euro area to take part in a full-scale pilot project designed to test the technical and operational features of this future digital currency.
The call for applications, launched in March 2026, attracted more than 50 applications, reflecting strong interest from the sector. The selected institutions – comprising both banks and non-bank entities – represent a range of business models and cover the entire eurozone, thereby ensuring that the tests are representative.
The pilot project will begin in the second half of 2027 and will run for 12 months. It will be based on a beta version of the digital euro, similar to that envisaged in the draft European legislation, but which will not have the status of legal tender. The trials will be conducted by the ECB and 19 national central banks, including the Central Bank of Luxembourg.
Strong market interest
In practical terms, some service providers will enable central bank teams to open a digital euro account and make payments, whilst others will support merchants so that they can accept these payments. The tests will cover payments between individuals, both online and offline, as well as purchases in-store, online and via mobile.
“The strong market interest in this pilot project shows that the private sector is ready to engage actively and drive the digital euro project forward rapidly in order to strengthen the European payments landscape,” said Piero Cipollone, a member of the ECB’s Executive Board and chair of the high-level task force on the digital euro.
Revolut is among the participants. The bank has confirmed that it has been selected as a payment service provider and has stated that it will make its banking infrastructure – which is deployed across the 27 Member States of the European Union – available to the Eurosystem for testing. “We are delighted to support the ECB and the national central banks in testing this framework within the designated pilot environment,” said a Revolut spokesperson.
The fintech company states that its role will be limited to the technical integration, testing and operational assessment of the system. The ECB has not yet published the full list of the 36 selected service providers. Several institutions have, however, publicly confirmed their selection, such as Deutsche Bank and UniCredit, according to their own announcements and several European media outlets.
