For years, some of Europe’s biggest banks were vocal doubters of the digital euro, but now several of them are helping to build it. On 14 July, the ECB selected 36 payment service providers for its digital euro pilot, a 12-month test starting in the second half of 2027. The line-up runs from incumbents like Deutsche Bank and UniCredit to challengers such as Stripe, Adyen and SumUp. So what does it tell us that the ECB put former skeptics, big banks and fintechs in the same room, and what kind of payments ecosystem is it really trying to build?
Our expert’s take: Romain Rica, Payment Product Line Manager Digital Core at SBS
Why did the ECB also choose financial institutions that have been very resistant to the digital euro?
The ECB’s decision is less about convincing supporters than validating the digital euro with the industry’s toughest critics. Several major banks have openly questioned the project’s business case, implementation costs and potential impact on deposits, profitability and existing European payment initiatives. By inviting these institutions to participate, the ECB ensures that the pilot is challenged by real operational and commercial concerns rather than theoretical assumptions.
Beyond validating the technology, the ECB is pursuing a broader objective: strengthening Europe’s payment sovereignty. Bringing previously skeptical institutions into the project increases the likelihood that, if adopted, the digital euro could evolve into a genuinely pan-European payment infrastructure rather than another fragmented initiative. If the digital euro can satisfy its most skeptical stakeholders, it will have a much stronger foundation for broader market adoption.
Would this allow a shift in terms of collaboration, making banks adopt it more readily?
Potentially, yes. The digital euro pilot represents a shift from consultation to co-creation.
Rather than asking the industry to react to a predefined solution, the ECB is inviting participants to help shape operational processes, user journeys, technical integration and real-life payment scenarios. This collaborative approach reduces implementation risk while giving participants an active role in shaping the final solution.
More importantly, it reinforces one of the ECB’s key messages: the digital euro is intended to be distributed through commercial banks and payment service providers, not to replace them, but to build on their existing customer relationships, expertise and distribution capabilities.
Whether this will accelerate adoption remains to be seen, but involving the industry at this stage significantly improves the chances of achieving broad market acceptance.
Why did the ECB choose not only banks, but also payment companies such as Stripe, Adyen and SumUp? What does this tell us about the future European payments ecosystem?
This is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the announcement. The ECB deliberately selected a broad cross-section of the European payments ecosystem rather than simply a representative sample of banks. By bringing together incumbent banks, digital challengers, payment processors, acquirers and fintechs, the ECB recognizes that the future of digital payments depends on collaboration across the entire value chain, not on any single category of institution.
Each participant contributes distinct capabilities. Traditional banks bring regulatory expertise, liquidity management and large-scale payment operations. Digital banks contribute innovation and customer-centric design. Payment specialists and fintechs provide merchant acquiring capabilities, modern payment experiences, APIs and scalable technology platforms.
This diversity is essential because the digital euro will ultimately need to operate seamlessly across consumers, merchants, banks and payment providers throughout Europe.
What the digital euro pilot really tests: our expert’s wrap-up
Beyond technology, the ECB is testing governance. More importantly, it is testing whether Europe’s fragmented payments ecosystem can operate as a coordinated network.
Perhaps the ECB’s most important innovation is not technological, but organizational. By bringing together incumbent banks, digital challengers, payment specialists and fintechs, it is creating a framework where competitors collectively contribute to the design of a common European payment infrastructure.
The composition of the pilot may ultimately prove more significant than the technology itself. It reveals that the ECB sees the future of European payments not as a competition between public and private actors, but as a coordinated ecosystem where each participant contributes distinct capabilities. If this collaborative model succeeds, its impact could extend well beyond the digital euro. It could become a blueprint for how Europe develops future financial infrastructures, combining public leadership with private-sector innovation to strengthen both competitiveness and strategic autonomy.
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