In brief: Digital Euro offers a life-size pilot with 36 financial institutions

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Parliament take a decisive double step for theDigital euro announcing the launch of a pilot involving 36 financial institutions and the opening of negotiations on its legislative framework.

The ECB selected 36 players, banking and non-banking, to participate in a digital euro pilot, launched from the second half of 2027 over a 12-month period. The selected providers cover a wide range of economic models, sizes and countries in the euro area, in order to create a representative testing environment.

The pilot will be based on a beta version of the digital euro, close to what is envisaged in the draft legislation but without legal currency status. Some providers will act as distributors, providing access to digital beta euro services (account opening, payments) to Eurosystem staff. Others will act as buyers, allowing selected traders to receive payments in this new form of currency. A few actors will combine the two roles.

The tests will be carried out within the ECB and 19 national central banks in the euro area, with payment practices between individuals (on-line and offline), C2B, at both physical and e-commerce outlets, including via mobile payments. The lessons will be used to refine the design of the digital euro and user paths, with regular updates published by the ECB.

At the same time, the European Parliament gave its green light to the opening of negotiations with the Council on the digital euro framework, including privacy requirements, free basic services, a per capita holding ceiling and complementarity with cash. In this context, the selection of 36 providers, including BPCE for France on the market acquisition perimeter, illustrates the shift from a conceptual phase to a full-scale validation of a future public payment instrument for the euro area.

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