ECB Tests AI-Powered Digital Euro for Payments
The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched a new program to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) agents could use a future digital euro for payments. The work will cover areas including micropayments, machine-to-machine interactions, and new features within payment apps.
Companies, fintech firms, payment providers, merchants, public institutions, and researchers can apply to join the next stage of the ECB's innovation platform, which will begin in 2027. One part of the program will focus on future use cases, studying how AI agents could interact with payment systems and with each other, as well as how very small micropayments could be processed.
The ECB also plans to pay particular attention to privacy, data protection, and user control. However, it stresses that the tests do not mean autonomous AI payments will necessarily become part of the final digital euro.