ECB selects 36 payment providers for digital euro pilot

European Central Bank Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said 36 euro-area payment providers have been selected for a 12-month digital euro pilot, planned to start in the second half of 2027. The pilot would move preparations forward, but the ECB cannot decide whether to issue a digital euro until the necessary legislation is adopted. [1]

Speaking at an MNI Connect webcast on 6 October, Cipollone said more than 50 providers had applied and EU legislative negotiations were under way. If that process concludes by the end of 2026, the ECB aims to be ready for a *potential* first issuance in 2029. That is not a launch date or a decision to issue the currency. [1]

Cipollone described a digital euro that would complement cash and private payment services, work online and offline across the euro area, and be offered to customers through banks and other regulated payment providers rather than directly by the ECB. Under the proposed design, holdings would not earn interest and would be capped. The eventual limit has not been set. [1]

Addressing the possible effect on banks, Cipollone cited ECB modelling of 2,025 institutions. Under one scenario using a hypothetical €3,000 holding limit, the sector’s aggregate liquidity coverage ratio fell from 166% to 163%, and its net stable funding ratio from 128% to 127%. In a separate, extreme flight-to-safety scenario, he said 13 banks’ liquidity coverage ratios fell to 100%, with nine of them at risk of falling below that level. That scenario assumed no monetary-policy response; the figures are projections, not observed withdrawals. [1]