Eurosystem opens digital euro pilot to online and mobile merchants
Key Takeaways
- 01The Eurosystem is inviting eligible euro-area e-commerce and mobile-commerce merchants to participate in a limited digital euro pilot.
- 02The call, published on 15 September 2026, follows the ECB’s update to its digital euro pilot FAQs.
- 03The pilot will test technical systems, operational processes and the experience of users and merchants making payments.
- 04Participation is voluntary and does not impose a broader obligation to accept the digital euro.
- 05The pilot is not a general public launch; it is intended to assess practical readiness before any wider rollout decision.
The Eurosystem has opened a call for euro-area e-commerce and mobile-commerce merchants to join its limited digital euro pilot. Published on 15 September 2026, the call builds on the European Central Bank’s updated pilot FAQs and moves the programme into merchant-focused testing.
The pilot is designed to assess whether the digital euro is ready to operate in practice before any decision on a broader rollout. It will test the underlying technology, operational processes and user experience when selected end users and participating merchants make payments.
Eligible online and mobile merchants can apply to take part in the testing. Participation is voluntary: the pilot does not create a general requirement for merchants to accept digital euro payments.
The programme remains a controlled testing exercise, not a public launch of the digital euro. Its results will help the Eurosystem evaluate how the currency could function in real-world merchant transactions.