The European Central Bank has selected 36 payment service providers from across the euro area for a 12-month digital euro pilot scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027, as the central bank moves ahead with technical preparations for a potential retail central bank digital currency.
According to the ECB's website, the 36 selected participants were drawn from a pool of more than 50 applicants consisting of banks and non-bank payment service providers. The final list includes major eurozone financial institutions such as Germany's Deutsche Bank, Italy's UniCredit, and France's BPCE, alongside digital-native platforms like Lithuania-registered Revolut Bank UAB, Ireland's Stripe Technology, and the Netherlands-based Adyen N.V.
“The strong market interest in the pilot shows the private sector’s readiness to engage actively and quickly advance with the digital euro project to strengthen the European payments landscape,” ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said in a statement on Tuesday.
Per the statement, participating payment service providers will act as distributing PSPs, acquiring PSPs, or both. Distributing providers will give Eurosystem staff access to beta digital euro accounts and payment services, while acquiring providers will enable selected merchants to accept beta digital euro payments.
