ECB Opens Second Round of Digital Euro Innovation Platform, Seeks Private-Sector Partners
ECB Opens Second Round of Digital Euro Innovation Platform, Seeks Private-Sector Partners #
The European Central Bank has launched a new call for expressions of interest to recruit private companies and organisations for a second round of its digital euro innovation platform, with two workstreams focused on near-term experimentation and longer-term technological exploration.
The platform will be structured around an experimentation workstream and a separate exploration workstream, according to the ECB. The experimentation track is designed to support the private sector in building and testing practical features and value-added services aimed at improving the digital euro experience for consumers and merchants. Work in this stream is scheduled to run from January to June 2027, at the end of which participants must submit a proof of concept and an outcome report. The ECB may also invite selected teams to present their findings at a dedicated event.
The exploration workstream takes a longer view, bringing together participants from multiple industries to exchange ideas and investigate potential use cases across consumer, merchant and public-sector contexts. One area of explicit focus is artificial intelligence in payments, including AI-enabled payment applications within the digital euro ecosystem.
Companies interested in joining are encouraged to submit joint applications, particularly those representing different but complementary roles within the digital euro ecosystem, such as a merchant paired with a payment service provider or a technical services firm. The application deadline is 17:00 CET on 9 November 2026.
The new call marks the second major engagement cycle for the innovation platform. The ECB’s first open call, issued in October 2024, attracted more than 100 applications, from which roughly 70 market participants were selected, including banks, fintechs, universities and non-bank payment providers, to take part in the pioneers and visionaries workstreams. That cohort conducted hands-on tests of conditional payments and examined future innovation directions. The ECB presented findings in September 2025 and announced plans for a follow-on round at that time.
The experimentation focus on conditional payments, transactions triggered automatically when pre-set conditions are met, continues a theme from the first cohort, where the ECB and its private-sector partners identified the mechanism as a potentially significant driver of innovation. Other services under active consideration include e-receipts, bill-splitting and budget management tools, which the ECB sees as ways to extend the digital euro’s utility beyond a basic payments instrument.
The broader digital euro project remains on a legislative timeline. The ECB has stated it is targeting readiness for a potential first issuance in 2029, contingent on European co-legislators adopting the digital euro regulation during 2026.
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