The European Central Bank has launched a call for expressions of interest for companies and organizations to help develop and assess potential digital euro innovations. Building on the digital euro innovation platform launched in 2024, the initiative expands stakeholder involvement in the Eurosystem’s preparations while remaining separate from any decision to issue a digital euro, which will follow only after relevant EU legislation is adopted. An experimentation workstream will turn earlier ideas into proofs of concept for integrated electronic receipts, transactions involving multiple payers or payees, conditional payments and payment app features. Conditional payments would execute automatically when predefined conditions are met and would not make the digital euro programmable money. An exploration workstream will examine possible future uses of artificial intelligence in payments and applications for public services, financial inclusion, automation and resilience, subject to privacy, user control and data protection principles. Experimentation is expected to run from January to June 2027, with participants developing and testing solutions and submitting outcome reports. Exploration workshops will take place at the ECB in the first and second quarters of 2027.
2026-09-28European Central Bank
European Central Bank invites market participants to develop and explore digital euro innovations
The European Central Bank is inviting a broad range of stakeholders to develop and explore digital euro innovations. Work in 2027 will cover payment features such as integrated receipts and conditional payments, as well as artificial intelligence and public-sector uses. Any decision to issue a digital euro remains contingent on the adoption of relevant EU legislation.