ECB Taps Revolut and Deutsche Bank for Digital Euro Pilot

The ECB launches a 12-month digital euro pilot with 36 partners, including Revolut and Deutsche Bank, to test infrastructure and merchant acceptance.

The project will span 12 months, examining how a future digital version of the single currency could be distributed to users and accepted by merchants. At this stage, the currency will not be released to the general public.

Banks and Fintechs to Test End-to-End Payment Process

Selected participants will fulfill two primary roles. Some will act as distributing payment service providers, granting Eurosystem employees access to test accounts and enabling payments using a beta version of the digital euro.

Other companies will serve as acquiring providers, onboarding merchants and developing the infrastructure necessary for digital payment acceptance. This dual approach allows the ECB to evaluate the entire lifecycle of a transaction—from account opening to final settlement—across both consumer and business segments.

The participant group is a strategic mix of major European banks and global fintech platforms. The list of participants includes Deutsche Bank, UniCredit, Stripe, Revolut, Adyen, and SumUp, providing the project with access to diverse technological models, customer bases, and payment channels.

The testing environment will be hosted by the ECB and 19 national central banks within the eurozone. Bulgaria and Malta will not participate in this specific phase. The digital currency itself will remain in a restricted beta version, lacking legal tender status and remaining inaccessible to citizens outside the pilot group.

Rather than demonstrating monetary policy or conducting a real issuance, the primary goal is to verify if the technical infrastructure is reliable, user-friendly, and scalable. The ECB will closely analyze the user experience, security protocols, intermediary performance, and operational procedures during payment acceptance.

Legislation Remains the Final Hurdle for Issuance

This pilot program follows a significant political milestone in early July, when the European Parliament approved the “single currency package.” This legislative framework is intended to establish the legal basis for a potential digital euro while strengthening the protection of physical cash as legal tender.

The process now moves to trilogue negotiations between the European Commission, the Council, and the European Parliament. Stakeholders aim to finalize the text by the end of 2026. The ECB has repeatedly stated that no formal decision to issue a digital euro will be made until the necessary legal framework is officially adopted.

The initiative is part of Europe’s broader strategy to decrease reliance on non-European card schemes and global big-tech firms. According to the ECB, a digital euro could bolster the eurozone’s payment sovereignty by creating a unified European infrastructure accessible across all member states.

Despite these advancements, the central bank maintains that the digital currency will not replace cash. It is designed to be a digital equivalent—public money issued by the central bank but utilized through electronic wallets and payment apps.

The selection of 36 participants indicates that the project is transitioning from a conceptual to an operational phase. The critical question is no longer whether the technology functions, but whether Europe can build the regulatory and political consensus required for a full-scale rollout.