European Central Bank calls for merchants to participate in digital euro pilot
- The European Central Bank is seeking e-commerce and mobile-commerce merchants to join a 12-month digital euro pilot beginning in the second half of 2027.
- The pilot will test online and offline payments using a beta currency that resembles the digital euro but is not legal tender, ahead of a possible 2029 issuance.
- The project’s success may depend on broad merchant acceptance and lower payment fees as the ECB seeks to counter the growing use of dollar-backed stablecoins in Europe.
The European Central Bank (ECB) on Tuesday called on e-commerce and mobile commerce merchants in the euro zone to join a digital euro pilot as it prepares a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) for possible issuance in 2029.
The pilot will test the technology, operational processes and user experience of a beta version of the currency, which will resemble the digital euro, but will not be legal tender.
The ECB’s call for merchants is about more than just technical testing. A digital euro will need enough places to spend it if consumers are to use it, making merchant acceptance a commercial question as much as a policy one.
“Many people think the digital euro’s success will depend on how governments and the public sector explain its usefulness,” Isadora Arredondo, vice president of global policy at Hedera, told CoinDesk via LinkedIn. “But the more difficult part will be making the project work commercially.”
Arredondo said merchants would need incentives to join in sufficient numbers and to ensure consumers do not encounter barriers when paying. One option, she said, could be for payment service providers to lower the fees merchants pay to accept digital-euro payments.