European Central Bank: 36 banks to test digital euro before its 2029 launch

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced on Tuesday the selection of 36 banks and payment service providers from across the euro area to participate in a pilot of the digital euro to test its technical feasibility.

The ECB stated that more than 60 payment service providers from various euro area countries had applied to join the pilot, and that 36 firms and banks were selected to ensure representation of different business models, bank sizes, and geographic regions.

Piero Cipollone, a member of the ECB’s Executive Board, said, “The strong market interest in the pilot demonstrates the private sector’s readiness to participate actively and to make rapid progress on the digital euro project, thereby strengthening Europe’s digital payments ecosystem.”

The digital euro pilot is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027 and will last for 12 months. The digital euro is expected to be officially launched in 2029, once the legislative framework is finalized.

According to the ECB, the pilot will use a version of the digital euro that is largely consistent with the version outlined in the draft legislation, but it will not have legal tender status.

The ECB and the 19 national central banks of the euro area will participate in the pilot. The participating countries are Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Finland.