Stripe, Revolut and SumUp Join the Digital Euro Trial

The digital euro has cleared its next hurdle: On Tuesday, the European Central Bank (ECB) selected 36 payment service providers (PSPs) from across the euro area to take part in the pilot project for the planned digital currency. More than 50 applications had been submitted following the call for expression of interest in March 2026. The trial is set to start in the second half of 2027 and run for twelve months – as preparation for a potential first issuance of the digital euro in 2029, provided the corresponding EU regulation is adopted in 2026.

Notable from an Austrian perspective: With BAWAG P.S.K. and Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), two domestic institutions are among the selected participants, joined by RBI’s Croatian subsidiary Raiffeisenbank Austria d.d. Alongside major traditional banks such as Deutsche Bank, UniCredit and BPCE, the list also features fintechs and payment specialists including Adyen, Stripe, Revolut, SumUp, Satispay and Worldline.

What the Pilot Will Test

The pilot will use a beta version of the digital euro that is functionally and technically close to the design foreseen in the draft legislation, but without legal tender status. Testing will take place at the ECB and 19 national central banks of the Eurosystem – including the Oesterreichische Nationalbank. Staff at the participating central banks will make beta payments from person to person (both online and offline) as well as from person to business – at the physical point of sale and via e-commerce, including mobile payments. Merchants offering everyday services on central bank premises, such as cafeterias and restaurants, will also be involved, along with selected e-commerce merchants.

The selected providers will take on different roles: So-called distributing PSPs will set up beta accounts for Eurosystem staff and enable payments, while acquiring PSPs will onboard merchants so they can accept payments in beta digital euro. Some providers will play both roles.

“The strong market interest in the pilot shows the private sector’s readiness to engage actively and quickly advance with the digital euro project to strengthen the European payments landscape,” says ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone, who chairs the High-Level Task Force on a digital euro.

The 36 Selected Banks and Payment Service Providers

Providers may also offer their pilot services in countries other than their application country; the ECB plans to finalize the list of locations later this year.

A Response to Stablecoins and US Payment Giants

The digital euro is, not least, a response to the rise of stablecoins – privately issued cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat currencies, a market almost entirely dominated by the US dollar (above all Tether/USDT and Circle’s USDC). From the ECB’s perspective, without its own central bank digital currency, Europe risks a scenario in which dollar stablecoins play a growing role in payments within the euro area, undermining the continent’s monetary sovereignty. Added to this is the existing dependence on US providers such as Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Apple Pay in everyday payments: The digital euro is meant to keep central bank money at the center of digital payments and create a European, publicly operated payment rail that is independent of private and non-European networks.

The Points of Criticism

The project is far from uncontroversial, however. The main objections:

Bank disintermediation: Commercial banks fear that customers could shift deposits into digital euros, weakening their funding base. Holding limits are being discussed as a countermeasure – a cap of around €3,000 per person is on the table – which critics in turn see as evidence that the product would hold little appeal for users.

Costs: The ECB puts development costs at around €1.3 billion, plus roughly €320 million in annual running costs. Analyses by PwC, by contrast, concluded that European banks alone could face implementation costs of €18 to €30 billion. Participation in the pilot is also not remunerated.

Privacy: Despite promised privacy features – such as offline payments with cash-like privacy – concerns remain that a state-operated digital currency could open up new surveillance possibilities in payments.

Competition with private initiatives: Parts of the banking industry point out that Wero, a private European payment solution, is already being built, and question whether a parallel public infrastructure is necessary – or whether it would crowd out private innovation.

Unclear added value and fees: Merchant representatives such as the Merchants Payments Coalition Europe are demanding binding fee caps (under discussion: a maximum of 0.1 percent or four cents per transaction), while the ECB has so far only vaguely described the system as “cost-efficient.” Skeptics also doubt that consumers, given well-functioning payment apps, see any need for yet another means of payment.

The final decision on issuing the digital euro will only be taken by the ECB’s Governing Council once the EU regulation has been adopted. Until then, the 36 selected providers, together with their national central banks and the ECB, are to complete preparations for the trial – with the development phase already starting in the third quarter of 2026.