The European Central Bank on September 15, 2026, opened a call for expression of interest for merchants that want to take part in its digital euro pilot. Applications close on October 27, 2026. The pilot is set to start in the second half of 2027 and run for 12 months, and it will put the digital euro through real purchases at real merchants.
The ECB has already picked 36 payment service providers licensed in the euro area, out of more than 50 that answered a call launched in March 2026. The pilot will bring together those providers, the selected merchants, and staff from the ECB and 19 national central banks. It will test four use cases in all: person-to-person and person-to-business payments, both in person and remote.
Merchants get paid for sales, and nothing more
The ECB will hold an information session for interested merchants on October 6, 2026, at 3 p.m. CET. Selected merchants will receive no payment for taking part beyond the price of the goods and services that Eurosystem staff buy from them, and they will pay no fees to the pilot’s payment providers. Each will sign a contract with the ECB and with one of the acquiring providers in the pilot.
The eligibility requirements are short:
- be established in the European Union
- operate in e-commerce or m-commerce
- have a presence in at least two of the pilot countries
- apply by October 27, 2026
A pilot is not a launch
The pilot does not commit the ECB to issuing anything. The decision to issue a digital euro rests with the ECB’s Governing Council, and it can come only after the European Parliament and the Council of the EU adopt the digital euro regulation. The ECB says it aims “to be ready for a potential first issuance of the digital euro during 2029, assuming the necessary EU legislation is adopted in the course of 2026.”
The legislative calendar remains the deciding factor. As of mid-September 2026, the EU’s payment services overhaul, PSD3 and its accompanying regulation, had still not been adopted.
The real test is everything around the payment
A pilot like this is less about proving that a payment goes through than about seeing what breaks around it. Refunds, disputes, abandoned carts, and reconciliation on the merchant’s side decide whether a payment method gets adopted far more than authorization speed does. Because ECB and national central bank staff will buy real goods and services, those everyday cases will be put to the test.
The schedule is tight. A 12-month run starting in the second half of 2027 leaves little room for a second attempt before 2029, the ECB’s target for a possible first issuance. Merchants will be working on a product that is still changing, and their feedback will shape the rules as much as the technology.
Online checkout is where the digital euro meets its rivals
A payment method cannot be tested without merchants that accept it. By going straight to online sellers, the ECB wants to see how the digital euro holds up where it will face its most direct competition: card payments and instant credit transfers at the online checkout.
For a French merchant, the immediate appeal is less the digital euro itself than access to a testing ground: the pilot will measure real payment journeys, with licensed providers, on neutral terms. For payment providers, the March selection has already drawn the line. Thirty-six of them will be in the engine room, and the rest will be watching.