ECB Seeks Online Merchants for Digital Euro Pilot
The European Central Bank has opened applications for online merchants to participate in a controlled pilot of its proposed retail central bank digital currency, the digital euro. This move brings the 2027 test closer to online checkout but does not put an issued digital euro into public circulation.
EU-established e-commerce and mobile-commerce businesses have until October 27 at 17:00 CET to apply for the pilot. Merchants must serve customers across at least two euro-area countries included in the pilot and operate an active platform flexible enough to integrate the test payment flow.
The beta will not constitute the digital euro defined under the proposed EU Regulation and will not carry legal-tender status. This boundary is central to the exercise, allowing the Eurosystem to test payment rails, operating processes, and user experience under controlled conditions without making the instrument ordinary public money.
Merchants selected for the pilot will need to contract and integrate with an acquiring payment service provider, one of 36 providers selected by the ECB in July. The pilot's 12-month operational phase is expected to begin in the second half of 2027, with operations from the third quarter of 2027 through the third quarter of 2028.