ECB Launches Digital Euro with 36 Partners: RBI and BAWAG Participate in Pilot Project
The European monetary architecture is on the verge of a historic transformation. As the European Central Bank (ECB) officially announced, 36 payment service providers from across the euro area have been selected for a comprehensive, 12-month pilot project to test the digital euro. The project, which is scheduled to launch in the second half of 2027, is considered a crucial real-world test for this prestigious European initiative.
The European Central Bank in Frankfurt am Main has selected a number of payment service providers from the euro area to participate in the digital euro pilot project. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons/ Kiefer / Europäische Zentralbank / European Central Bank / CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en)
Two prominent heavyweights from Austria have made it into the select group of test partners: Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and BAWAG P.S.K. will test the digital currency under real-world conditions. Internationally, they are joined by well-known industry giants such as Deutsche Bank and UniCredit (the parent company of Bank Austria), as well as innovative technology and fintech companies like Stripe, Revolut, and SumUp.
Strong Market Interest and Strict Criteria
The selection of the 36 partners was preceded by an intensive application process. Following the official call for expressions of interest in March 2026, more than 50 payment service providers submitted their applications. The ECB evaluated the applicants based on predefined eligibility criteria to create a testing environment that is as representative as possible.
“The strong market interest in the pilot project demonstrates the private sector’s willingness to actively participate and drive the project forward swiftly to strengthen the European payments landscape,” emphasized ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone. The selected institutions reflect a broad spectrum—ranging from global banking houses to specialized payment platforms.
Real-world testing with the “beta version”
During the one-year pilot phase, a so-called beta version of the digital euro will be used. This version largely corresponds to the final design in terms of technology and functionality, but does not yet have the status of legal tender. Testing will take place directly within the ECB’s ecosystem as well as at a total of 19 national central banks of the Eurosystem—including the Austrian National Bank (OeNB).
In practice, this means that central bank employees and selected merchants will simulate everyday payments. Whether it’s a quick coffee in the cafeteria, at a brick-and-mortar retail store, or in e-commerce—the ECB wants to test whether the underlying infrastructure is robust, fail-safe, user-friendly, and infinitely scalable.
RBI Participates but Remains Skeptical
Despite its participation, the Austrian RBI remains cautious in a statement to the APA, as reported by ORF. “Our fundamentally skeptical stance on whether a digital euro is actually necessary from the perspective of European sovereignty has not changed,” the bank stated. However, it acknowledged that the introduction of the digital currency is a done deal from both a political and monetary policy perspective.
The RBI intends to use the pilot project primarily to examine customer acceptance and behavior. “Our goal is to integrate the digital euro into existing payment services rather than creating parallel systems,” the bank stated. The RBI, however, is placing significantly more strategic hope in “Wero,” the private payment initiative of the European Payments Initiative (EPI), which the RBI joined as a shareholder in June.
Government Money vs. Private Banking Initiative
This case illustrates the coexistence of two completely different concepts on the European market. The digital euro is government-issued central bank money (a “digital twin” of cash), issued by the ECB to reduce Europe's long-term dependence on U.S. monopolies such as Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Apple Pay. Wero is a private-sector payment system developed by European banks. Its primary purpose is to simplify transfers and card payments within Europe and to establish a direct European alternative to PayPal.
Launch in 2029 at the earliest
It will still be some time before the digital euro reaches the smartphones of the general public. The ECB is targeting a potential initial launch in 2029. However, this is contingent on EU lawmakers finally adopting the legal regulation on the digital euro in the course of 2026.
Central banks also repeatedly emphasize that the digital currency is by no means intended to replace traditional euro cash, but rather to complement it as a universal digital means of payment via a dedicated ECB app. The pilot project, now announced and set to begin in 2027, will lay the foundation for this historic endeavor.