European Central Bank Selects 36 Payment Institutions for Digital Euro Pilot in Second Half of 2027

Odaily Planet Daily News: The European Central Bank has announced the selection of 36 payment service providers from the euro area to participate in the digital euro pilot. The pilot will launch in the second half of 2027 and run for 12 months. It will be conducted at the ECB and the central banks of 19 euro area countries, testing digital euro payments, offline payments, e-commerce, and in-store purchases, while also optimizing the user experience in preparation for a potential future official issuance of the digital euro. Following a call for expressions of interest issued to euro area payment service providers in March 2026, over 50 applications were received. Ultimately, 36 payment service providers from multiple member states were selected to participate, including Deutsche Bank, Adyen, Revolut Bank, Stripe Technology Europe, and Worldline.