According to the official statement, the selected providers include financial technology companies such as Stripe and Revolut, as well as traditional banks such as Deutsche Bank, UniCredit and BPCE. Revolut recently phased out support for Tether's USDT by adjusting some crypto services for European Union users.
The pilot comes at a time when governments are approaching digital currencies differently. While Europe was expanding testing of its proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC), the United States had taken steps to prevent the Central Bank from issuing a CBDC.
The ECB started selecting providers from across the euro area for the digital euro pilot earlier this year. The 12-month trial period is planned to begin in the second half of 2027. The bank stated that it received more than 50 applications from payment companies after opening the call for applications in March 2026. Selected participants include traditional banks, payment processors and non-bank service providers.
The largest number of participants came from Italy with seven companies. The list included UniCredit, Poste Italiane, Nexi Payments, Banca Sella, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Isybank and Numia. Italy was followed by Germany with five providers, while Portugal and Greece were on the list with three companies each. The ECB explained that the country distribution was designed to create a broad testing environment and that selected providers could offer pilot services outside their own markets.
Piero Cipollone, a member of the ECB Governing Board and chairman of the digital euro high-level task force, said the level of participation showed the interest of the private sector in developing the project. Cipollone stated that they expect closer cooperation with European payment providers while developing a secure, efficient and inclusive digital euro.
The pilot will involve the central banks, payment companies and businesses of the ECB and 19 member countries, including Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. Participants will test the system before a possible token issuance. The selected providers will undertake different tasks during the trial period. Some of them will support users' access to digital euro services, while others will help businesses receive payments. According to the ECB, some companies will take on both roles.