ECB looks for online merchants for the digital euro pilot — applications until 27 October

What happened

On 15 September 2026 the Eurosystem published a call for expressions of interest, looking for e-commerce and m-commerce merchants from the euro area to take part in the digital euro pilot. The call follows the selection of 36 payment service providers, which the ECB picked from more than 50 applications. The pilot is due to begin in the second half of 2027 and to run for twelve months; what is tested is a beta version that comes technically and functionally close to the design set out in the draft regulation, but is explicitly not legal tender. Selected merchants sign a participation agreement with the ECB and must additionally establish or adjust their contractual relationship with an acquirer taking part in the pilot. Assessment is based on market reach, operational readiness and suitability. Participation is voluntary and unpaid. An information session takes place on 6 October 2026 at 15:00 CET, and applications close on 27 October 2026 at 17:00 CET. The final decision on issuing the digital euro will only be taken once the EU regulation has been adopted; the ECB names a possible first issuance in 2029 as its target.

Who it affects

Online merchants in the euro area, first of all the larger ones with their own checkout development. This call is explicitly not intended for bricks-and-mortar merchants — according to the ECB, national central banks may recruit local merchants through separate calls. For Germany that means: anyone with a shop who wants to take part waits for a call from the Bundesbank.

What it means

Voluntary, unpaid, with a contract with the ECB and an amendment to the acquiring contract — that is an offer you only accept if you want influence rather than revenue. Which is precisely why it is interesting. The pilot is where it is settled what the payment journey looks like: where in the checkout the digital euro appears, how refunds work, what happens when the customer is offline. Those details will later decide conversion rates, not the fee cap being fought over in Brussels. Anyone not taking notes now will be handed a finished integration in 2029 — and will get to pay for it.

The honest part of the calculation: for a mid-sized shop this is not worth it. You tie up developers for a year on a payment method that does not yet legally exist, and you get no money for it. The effort pays off for merchants with their own payment department, for platforms and for the large retail chains — in other words, for those who sit on trade association boards anyway. Everyone else does the sensible thing: read the FAQ, note 6 October in the diary and keep your own checkout architecture in a state where adding another payment method is not a rebuild. Two years before a possible issuance, that is not panic, it is homework.

What to do now

1. If you have your own development capacity in the checkout: put the information session on 6 October 2026 at 15:00 CET in the diary and, beforehand, establish whether your own acquirer is among the 36 selected payment service providers — without it, an application makes no sense.
2. Bricks-and-mortar merchants: do not apply, but watch whether the Bundesbank launches its own call for local merchants.
3. Regardless of the pilot, check how many working days it costs you today to add another payment method to your checkout. That number is the real answer to the digital euro, Wero and everything that comes after them.