Digital euro: the ECB selects 36 payment service providers for the pilot

What happened

On 14 July 2026 the European Central Bank named the participants for the digital euro pilot: 36 payment service providers from the euro area, selected from more than 50 applications, including commercial banks, central institutions, payment processors and fintechs. Five German applicants are on the list; those named include Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, Helaba, Payone and RS2. The pilot starts in the second half of 2027, runs for twelve months and tests payments in shops, in e-commerce and between private individuals. In this phase the digital euro is not legal tender; it is only available to selected merchants and to Eurosystem staff. The legislative process is expected to conclude by the end of 2026, with a possible first issuance in 2029.

Who it affects

For now, nobody at the till. From 2027, the merchants recruited as pilot participants. From 2029, potentially every merchant in the euro area, because the regulation provides for mandatory acceptance of the digital euro.

What it means

The list of participants tells you more than the timetable does. With Payone, Adyen, Nexi, Worldline, SumUp and Stripe, the acquirers and payment network operators (Netzbetreiber) that supply the terminals today are on board. So the digital euro will run over the existing infrastructure, not around it. That is the good news for merchants: no new device, no second till.

The open question is the price. The regulation provides for a cap on merchant fees, benchmarked against the cheapest comparable means of payment. If that is meant seriously, the digital euro will be cheaper than the credit card and will sit in girocard territory. Then it has a chance. If the fee ends up being shaped by the same providers who earn money on cards today, it remains a prestige project with mandatory acceptance.

What to do now

1. Buy nothing, convert nothing. Until 2029 there is neither an obligation nor a benefit.
2. At your next terminal decision, look for Android devices that can be updated; the digital euro arrives as software.
3. If you are a merchant interested in the pilot, ask your own payment network operator whether it is among the 36 participants.