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EY teams’ perspective on the Digital Euro

^{Prepare now for the launch}

Market participants are encouraged to start planning early for the Digital Euro's introduction. While the launch and potential first issuance is expected for 2029, planning cycles and implementation and integration processes could benefit from an early start – especially if the requirements are as extensive as in this case for the Digital Euro.

This proactive approach involves a comprehensive assessment of potential impacts on their business models, including the need to redefine their roles in the market as intermediaries and their strategic positioning in the payments landscape. Financial institutions should evaluate how the Digital Euro will affect their operational processes, customer interfaces, and compliance mechanisms.

A scenario-based preliminary study to assess implementation costs, considering bank-specific potentials and risks can help to determine potential liquidity outflows, assess mitigation actions and inform the strategic positioning. This study will guide investment and implementation planning, helping financial institutions to prepare in the evolving market.

Key considerations include:

Requirements analysis: legal and regulatory requirements, functional and technical requirements, business requirements
Impact assessment: evaluation of business model impact, cost estimation. Liquidity management and financials/KPIs, product and service portfolios, revenue streams
ICT impact analysis: affected systems and applications, architecture and interfaces, data modelling, estimate integration and implementation effort
Strategic positioning: payment solution offering, wero integration, vendor and partnership strategies (build, partner, buy)
Stakeholder communication and change management: defining internal and external communication strategies, engagement with stakeholders, exchange with supervising authorities
Program ramp up: initiate the Digital Euro program and build the necessary governance, onboard program and project members, educate teams internally

As a starting point for the internal assessment approaches, we have published our whitepaper including four core hypotheses. This is a potential base for a dedicated evaluation workshop which is conducted using EY’s new Digital Euro Framework.

^{Consider opportunities for strategic innovation in payments}

In addition to preparing for the Digital Euro and seizing opportunities for innovation, banks should also focus on strategic innovation. This involves integrating the Digital Euro into a broader payments strategy that considers other emerging initiatives relevant to their business models, such as:

Stable coins: as digital assets evolve and the underlying technology constantly matures, stable coins present an opportunity for banks in the context of certain use cases. Institutions may wish to explore how stable coins can complement their existing offerings and enhance their competitive positioning based on a use case driven approach. It is also important to evaluate the implications of both stable coins and digital currencies such as the digital euro from a tax perspective.

Wero: the potential integration of digital wallets, such as the Wero wallet, can provide customers with a convenient and secure way to pay in all circumstances and in the future manage their Digital Euro holdings. Banks may wish to explore how Wero and its functionalities can be incorporated into their payment and service ecosystem.
Broader ecosystem: banks should also consider other payment solutions and relevant, related technologies, as the EU-DI Wallet (Digital identity), which could enhance the institution’s payment capabilities, building a comprehensive strategic framework that addresses the diverse needs of customers.

By embracing strategic innovation, financial institutions may position themselves as prepared in the evolving digital landscape, to be able to remain competitive and relevant in a rapidly changing market.

^{Participate in the Digital Euro pilot}

The ECB has issued a call for expression of interest (COI) for PSPs to take part in a Digital Euro pilot on March 5. The process runs in three phases and starts with the initial preparation phase in which market players are selected.

Note: The deadline for submitting applications has been set for 14 May 2026. This will be followed by a development and implementation phase in which both ECB and PSPs will create the foundation for the actual pilot. The actual field experimentation is planned to start in the second half of 2027 and last for 12 months, concluding in the second half of 2028.

This pilot represents the ECB’s initial comprehensive end-to-end test of the Digital Euro with actual users, merchants and e-commerce shops. It is a highly selective program, offering an opportunity for providers to contribute feedback relevant to the future development of the Digital Euro, gain relevant experience for navigating the implementation and shaping the organization’s future-proof payments strategy. This may offer banks an opportunity to gain insights that could support future implementation work and a more accurate impact assessment, depending on individual circumstances. In general, the pool of selected PSPs (approx. 10 to 30) will need to ensure representative coverage of the Euro area market in terms of size, geographical coverage and market reach. Therefore, submitting a well-prepared application can help articulate eligibility.

The selection is dependent on a payment service provider’s overall capability, determined through eight predefined selection criteria and nine weighted evaluation criteria. While the eligibility requirements must be fully met to be considered (e.g,. PSD2 licence or regulatory compliance, ability to ensure system availability and stability and the capacity to integrate with the DESP) the weighted evaluation criteria determine who gets selected. Key dimensions here include Access to TARGET Services and DESP DCA model, geographic footprint and ability to serve end users in participating EA countries or the experience running pilots and collecting user feedback.

EY teams can assist you in:

Shaping a successful application that meets ECB criteria and readiness standards.
Establishing a strategy for participating in target use cases and developing a holistic payments strategy based on internal assessments and the experience gained.
Enhancing technical, operational, and regulatory preparedness utilizing EY’s Digital Euro Capability Model and Impact Framework.
Mobilizing and building technical, business and operational readiness.
Planning DESP integration and the evaluation of its impact on the infrastructure, the bank’s capabilities and business-model specific elements

^{Participate to be ahead of the curve and explore innovative use cases}

The outcome report from the first wave of the Digital Euro Innovation Platform (visionaries and pioneers) emphasised that hands‑on experimentation is critical to translate concepts into tangible results, uncover practical constraints and identify concrete areas for improvement.

It also highlighted how such testing helps market participants deepen their understanding of the Digital Euro’s emerging design and prepare more effectively for a potential future launch. Building on the engagement and insights generated in this first iteration, ECB has announced a second round of experimentation, with further details to be communicated in the first half of 2026.

Participating in the next round can signal commitment to a pan‑European standard, reinforcing the ECB’s emphasis on harmonized standards and shared infrastructure as enablers for scale and provide banks with several other strategic advantages.

It accelerates bank readiness through hands‑on experimentation, translating concepts into practical learnings and identifying constraints early and complementing ongoing assessment efforts aiming to identify the impact. By engaging directly, banks help shape standards and the long‑term direction through structured market collaboration. This also strengthens ecosystem partnerships across banks, PSPs, FinTechs and other involved parties and helps building a bank’s Digital Euro ecosystem.