Nine Italian banks began technical testing on June 3, 2026, as part of the Eur.Bank experiment, while the European Central Bank awaits feedback from payment service providers by the end of June. The digital euro has moved from conference halls into the working infrastructure of credit institutions. This is an architecture test, not a public product launch. The ECB invited payment service providers to apply for its pilot project by May 14, and their responses are expected by late June 2026.
Digital Euro: ECB Roadmap
Source: ECB and Banca d’Italia press releases, 2025-2026
What the Nine Banks Are Actually Testing
The Italian experiment is not a consumer product. Full stop. It's an infrastructure test. In parallel, a consortium of nine European banks, including UniCredit, is developing a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin through a Dutch electronic money institution, with issuance expected in the second half of 2026. Two tracks are running simultaneously: a public digital currency and regulated private stablecoins. Both reflect the same strategic urgency. Europe wants its own payment rails, independent of dollar-pegged instruments.
The Four Payment Types the Pilot Will Test
Functionally, when the operational phase begins in the second half of 2027, the pilot will cover four scenarios: person-to-person transfers online and offline, point-of-sale payments using NFC technology, and online payments on websites and apps.
Payment service providers will manage user onboarding and transaction processing in close coordination with the ECB and national central banks. According to ECB disclosures, the estimated cost through first issuance is approximately 1.3 billion euros, with banking costs kept close to those incurred for implementing the Payment Services Directive.
The Political Stakes Behind the Technical Work
On June 1 in Seoul, ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel linked the digital euro directly to European monetary sovereignty, pointing to geopolitical tensions and the rising dominance of dollar-pegged stablecoins in mobile payments. The implication is concrete: without its own public payment infrastructure, the eurozone risks dependency on systems it doesn't control.
The final decision rests with the ECB Governing Council, and it won't come until EU legislation is adopted. The regulatory process is well advanced: the European Commission presented the legislative package in June 2023, the EU Council set its negotiating position in December 2025, and the European Parliament signalled strong political backing in February 2026.
For European citizens, one practical point stands out: according to official ECB documentation, the digital euro is designed to complement cash, not replace it. The full technical press release is available on the ECB website. Late June will reveal whether the pilot has secured the critical mass of banks it needs to proceed.
