The European Central Bank (ECB) has updated its guidance for payment service providers (PSPs) on the planned digital euro pilot, a limited practical exercise to test how a “beta digital euro” could work in everyday payment situations. The ECB positions the pilot as readiness testing and evidence gathering that does not pre-empt any decision on issuing a digital euro, which it links to the EU co-legislators adopting the proposed digital euro Regulation. The pilot will take place on-site at the ECB and participating euro area national central banks (NCBs), with individual end users drawn from Eurosystem staff and participating merchants contracted with the ECB or an NCB and an acquiring PSP. The beta digital euro is described as a Eurosystem liability created upon receipt of funds from pilot PSPs, distinct from the legislated digital euro and not an account held directly with the ECB, with participants holding linked commercial bank money accounts at the pilot PSP. Four payment use cases are in scope: online person-to-person (P2P) via alias or a digital euro access number (DEAN), offline P2P via NFC, online point-of-sale person-to-business (P2B) via NFC using SoftPOS, and online e-commerce or m-commerce P2B via alias or DEAN. PSPs can apply as distributing PSPs, acquiring PSPs, or both, may rely on technical service providers but remain the sole applicants and responsible parties, and must contract via a PSP participation agreement with a participating euro area NCB. Operational parameters include holding limits to be communicated closer to launch, inclusion of waterfall and reverse-waterfall funding between beta digital euro and linked commercial bank accounts, manual liquidity management of dedicated cash accounts on the digital euro service platform (DESP), and a prohibition on charging end users for pilot services, with no remuneration or subsidies for participants. The application window opened with the call for expression of interest on 5 March 2026 and closes at 17:00 CEST on 14 May 2026, with selection outcomes to be notified by end-June 2026. The ECB sets a three-phase timeline with development starting in the third quarter of 2026 and an operational phase starting in the second half of 2027 for 12 months, supported by DESP onboarding, testing and certification, and ongoing ECB and NCB engagement with pilot PSPs.
European Central Bank 2026-04-15
European Central Bank sets out digital euro pilot scope and PSP selection timeline for 2026 applications
The European Central Bank has updated its guidance for payment service providers on the planned digital euro pilot, a limited exercise to test how a “beta digital euro” functions in everyday payments without pre-empting any issuance decision. Run on-site at the ECB and euro area national central banks, it will involve Eurosystem staff and selected merchants, cover four online and offline P2P and P2B use cases, and require PSPs to participate via national central bank agreements under parameters including holding limits, waterfall mechanisms and a ban on end-user charges. The ECB sets development from the third quarter of 2026 and a 12‑month operational phase starting in the second half of 2027.