Digital euro: ECB seeks merchants for experiments with e-receipts and conditional payments — deadline 9 November
On 28 September 2026 the ECB opened a new wave of its digital euro innovation platform. Merchants, payment service providers, fintechs and others can apply until 9 November 2026, 17:00 CET; the experiments on integrated electronic receipts, multi-party payments and conditional payments run from January to June 2027.
What happened
On 28 September 2026 the European Central Bank called for a new wave of its digital euro innovation platform. It explicitly addresses merchants, payment service providers, technical service providers, fintechs, consumer associations, public institutions and research institutes; joint applications across roles are encouraged. There are two workstreams: in the experimentation workstream (January to June 2027) participants develop features such as integrated electronic receipts, payments with multiple payers or payees, conditional payments and new app features, and deliver a proof of concept and an outcome report. The exploration workstream works in workshops in Frankfurt, among other things on AI in payments. The deadline is Monday, 9 November 2026, 17:00 CET. The ECB stresses that a decision on issuance will only be taken once the legislation is completed.
Who is affected
Merchants and POS system providers who have to invest in digital receipts anyway, payment service providers and payment network operators (Netzbetreiber) that want to offer merchant features, and associations that want a say before rules are fixed. This wave is separate from the merchant call for the pilot, which runs until 27 October.
Analysis
So far the digital euro has been negotiated for merchants almost entirely on cost: what may it cost, is it cheaper than the card. This call shifts the focus to what it is supposed to do. And the first item on the list is, of all things, the electronic receipt — exactly what Germany wants to bring to the till from 2028 with the Zweites Kassengesetz (Second Cash Register Act). If receipt and payment run together in one transaction, that is a real benefit for merchants that no card delivers today.
The flip side: experiments without a price tag remain groundwork. As long as the compensation model is open in the trilogue, every feature remains a promise that the merchant pays for later. I described the same pattern for Wero. Those who take part help shape it — but should not expect the cost question to be settled in a workshop.
What to do now
- Merchants with their own app or customer account: check whether a joint application with the POS or payment provider on the e-receipt topic makes sense — deadline 9 November, 17:00 CET.
- Put the requirements for digital receipts from the draft Kassengesetz and from a possible digital euro side by side instead of investing twice.
- Do not confuse the pilot application for online merchants (until 27 October) with this call — they are two separate procedures.