ECB urges merchants to join digital euro pilots

The European Central Bank urged merchants across the euro area to sign up for pilot trials that will test how businesses accept and process a digital euro at points of sale.

The pilots are organised by the Eurosystem and national central banks in coordination with payment service providers, terminal manufacturers and software vendors. The central bank wants retailers, hospitality firms and other payment recipients to work with their banks and terminal suppliers to test integration, customer flows and reconciliation procedures.

Merchant participation is intended to show real-world use cases and technical requirements as the project advances. Tests will cover both offline and online acceptance, interoperability with existing card and mobile payment systems, and safeguards for privacy and fraud prevention.

The pilots will examine practical issues for merchants, including how they would be reimbursed, how fees or incentives might be handled, refund processing and changes to accounting and reporting systems. Small independent shops and larger chains are invited to take part so the trials reflect a range of transaction volumes and technical setups.

Merchants are expected to be recruited through banks, payment processors and terminal providers already involved in ECB testing. Commercial partners will supply the technical interfaces and operational support so most merchants will not need to replace their existing payment solutions.

Merchant feedback will inform technical specifications, user interfaces and merchant-facing rules, including privacy protections, offline payment limits, authentication methods and settlement arrangements. The pilots focus on technical feasibility and user experience rather than on a final design or a timeline for rollout.

The digital euro project has moved from research and prototypes to practical tests with consumers, banks and technology providers. These merchant experiments are the next stage and aim to produce operational data on acceptance, merchant costs, payment reconciliation and the movement of funds between customers, merchants and banks.

The initiative seeks to offer a secure, widely accessible digital payment denominated in euros to complement cash and private digital options. Design priorities include protecting privacy within legal limits, broad usability and maintaining financial stability.