Exploring the future of payments through the ECB digital euro pilot
Adyen has been selected to help define the future of digital money in everyday commerce.
The way we pay is constantly evolving. New payment methods emerge, consumer expectations change, and technology continues to reshape how commerce works. As these changes accelerate, collaboration across the payments ecosystem becomes increasingly important.
That's why I’m excited to share that we’re participating in the digital euro pilot led by the European Central Bank (ECB). This initiative will define how public digital money works in everyday commerce, and what it would take to integrate it into real-world payment experiences.
At Adyen, we're fortunate to work with businesses across regions and payment methods. That gives us a direct view on what merchants need from their payments infrastructure: simplicity, reliability, and the flexibility to adapt as the landscape evolves. Through this pilot, Adyen can contribute its practical experience and better understand how a potential digital euro could fit into merchants' existing payment ecosystems.
For me, that's the real value of participating. It allows us to move beyond theory and explore practical questions in a real-world setting. What would it take to integrate the digital euro into existing payment flows? How should it be presented at checkout? What would implementation mean for merchants operationally? And most importantly, how can it be introduced in a way that genuinely improves the customer experience rather than adding complexity?
By joining the pilot, we have the opportunity to learn how the digital euro can best reflect everyday realities for merchants. Any future payment method should support the outcomes businesses care about most: seamless customer experiences, strong conversion, and operational efficiency.
About the digital euro pilot
The idea behind a digital euro is to create a digital form of cash, issued by the ECB and distributed by banks and payment service providers. Consumers would access it through digital wallets provided by their banks, while merchants would accept payments through their acquirers.
The ECB plans to launch a 12-month pilot in the second half of 2027. During the pilot, participating payment service providers – including Adyen – alongside selected merchants and Eurosystem staff, will test a beta version in everyday payment scenarios, including in-store and online payments. The initiative forms part of the ECB’s broader preparation work. Its goal is to assess how a digital euro could work in practice and whether it can meet the needs of consumers and businesses across the eurozone.
It’s important to add that no decision has yet been made to issue a digital euro. The ECB has made clear that such a decision would only be taken after the necessary EU legislation has been adopted. If introduced, the digital euro would complement cash rather than replace it, giving consumers another way to pay.
What this could mean for merchants
Europe's payments landscape has never been more diverse. Alongside cards, we've seen a growing number of digital wallets and account-to-account payment methods emerge across markets. While this development gives consumers greater choice, it also creates a more fragmented payments ecosystem.
For merchants, every additional payment method brings operational considerations. It needs to be evaluated, integrated, maintained, monitored, and optimized. Deciding which payment methods to offer – and where – has become increasingly complex.
This is where the digital euro has the potential to make a meaningful contribution. It's being designed as a standardized payment method that could work consistently across the euro area. Under the European Commission's proposal, it would also have legal tender status, meaning merchants would be required to accept it. If the mandate passes, the digital euro would become another payment method alongside those already available, not a replacement for them.
This naturally raises practical questions. How will customers discover and select the digital euro during checkout? How should it sit alongside existing payment methods? What changes will merchants need to make behind the scenes? And how can all of this happen without creating additional friction?
These are exactly the kinds of questions the pilot intends to explore. By participating, Adyen can give input so that any future implementation is practical, scalable, and aligned with the needs of merchants and consumers.
Looking ahead
The digital euro pilot project is now entering a more practical phase. Following the initial preparation phase between 2023 and 2025, the current focus centers on technical readiness, industry collaboration, and supporting ongoing legislative processes. Several important milestones still need to be reached before a digital euro could become a reality. First, concrete laws need to be agreed upon, after which the ECB would decide whether to move forward with issuance. If legislation proceeds as expected, the pilot will begin in the second half of 2027, with potential issuance following several years later.
While that journey is still underway, the challenges merchants face today are already very real. Businesses are navigating an increasingly fragmented payments landscape, balancing customer expectations with operational complexity, compliance requirements, and the need to scale efficiently across markets. At Adyen, we remain focused on helping businesses solve for that complexity by supporting a broad range of payment methods through a single platform. The insights we’ll gain through this pilot will broaden the way we support the day-to-day needs of our merchants.
We’re excited and ready to be part of shaping this next chapter in European payments. Stay tuned, there's a lot more to come!