The European Central Bank may raise its main interest rate from 2% today to 2.75% by year-end.
The European Central Bank has picked 36 payment service providers, including three Greek lenders, to join the pilot program for its digital euro project, it has said.
The ECB has been working on the digital euro for years, partly to wean the bloc off US-based payment providers, and hopes for first issuance in 2029, provided that long-delayed legislation is put in place by the end of this year.
The pilot, due to start in the second half of 2027, will last for 12 months and will test the digital euro’s technical functionality and operational processes, and will also be used to refine user experience, the ECB said in a statement.
More than 50 companies applied to participate in the pilot and the 36 selected firms include some of the eurozone’s biggest financial firms like Deutsche Bank and UniCredit as well as fast-growing digital banks such as Revolut.
