The European Central Bank accelerates the digital euro project and chooses the banks involved in the experiment.
36 banks and payment service providers have been selected to participate in the pilot project which will start in the second half of 2027. Among them there are also eight Italian operators: Poste Italiane, Montepaschi, Isybank of Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, Nexi, Satispay, Numia and Banca Sella.
How the trial will work
The 8 Italian banks selected, among the total of 36 banks at European level, represent an absolutely significant number and proof that the Italian banking system is considered reliable and cutting-edge.
Satispay submitted the application through the Luxembourg office, while the other seven operators participate through Italy with the coordination of the Bank of Italy.
In addition to Italian operators, groups such as Deutsche Bank, Revolut, Stripe, Adyen, SumUp and Worldline will also participate.
The digital euro pilot project will last twelve months and will allow thousands of employees of the ECB and the national central banks of the Eurozone, including the Bank of Italy, to use a beta version of the digital euro.
The digital currency can be used for:
- online payments;
- purchases via POS at selected stores;
- money transfers between private individuals.
The version used during the experimentation will be very similar to the one envisaged in the final project, but will not yet be legal tender.
The tests on the beta version will serve to verify the functioning of the platform, the operational processes and the user experience.
Piero Cipollone, member of the Executive Board of the ECB and president of the digital euro task force, said:
The strong market interest shows the desire of the private sector to compete actively and advance quickly.
Bankitalia on Italian participation
The Bank of Italy welcomed the presence of numerous national operators in the trial.
The institute underlined that the “large Italian participation” demonstrates the national market’s interest in the project and represents the variety of the payments ecosystem present in the country.
The deputy director general of the Bank of Italy, Chiara Scotti, declared:
The participation in the pilot project of a large and representative audience of Italian operators, an expression of the different realities active in the sector, confirms the contribution that the national payments system can offer to the development of the digital euro. It also testifies to the attention and commitment with which Italian operators are preparing for this important evolution. The testing phase will represent a valuable opportunity for discussion and collaboration between the market and the Eurosystem and will allow us to gain useful experience in view of the subsequent stages of the path towards the possible introduction of the digital euro.
What is the digital euro and what will change
The digital euro is the project with which the ECB aims to create an electronic version of the single currency issued directly by the central bank.
These are its characteristics:
- it will have the same value as the euro in cash;
- it will be usable both online and offline;
- it will be free for citizens;
- it will support cash without replacing it;
- it will not produce interest.
Some aspects still remain to be defined, including the maximum limit of digital euros that each citizen will be able to hold and the definitive operating methods.
The digital euro will have to accompany physical money and not replace it: “One euro will remain one euro”, was reiterated several times during the debate at European level, regardless of whether it is paper or digital money.
