The European Central Bank has opened applications for a new round of its digital euro innovation platform, seeking fintechs, payment firms and other organizations to explore the use of AI agents in digital euro payments.
The program divides into two tracks: hands-on testing of payment features and workshops on future digital euro uses. The experimentation track will run from January through June 2027, with selected participants developing prototypes for e-receipts, multiparty transactions, conditional payments and new front-end features.
Workshops scheduled for the first half of 2027 will cover AI-enabled payments, micropayments, machine-to-machine interactions and uses of the digital euro in public services. A subset of participants will present findings at the ECB's Frankfurt headquarters.
The digital euro is a proposed central bank digital currency designed for retail payments across the euro area. It would operate as digital cash alongside banknotes and coins.
The ECB has already selected 36 banks and payment firms, including Revolut, Stripe and Deutsche Bank, for a separate 12-month pilot beginning in the second half of 2027. The ECB said the findings from both the innovation platform and pilot could inform future enhancements and use cases for the digital euro. Any issuance would still require EU legislation and a subsequent ECB decision.
