Digital euro: seven Italian payment service providers to take part in the Eurosystem pilot project

14 July 2026

Seven Italian payment service providers have been selected to take part in the Eurosystem's digital euro pilot project, which will involve 36 participants from across the euro area.

The providers selected are Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Sella, Isybank, Nexi Payments, Numia, Poste Italiane and UniCredit.

The sizeable Italian participation demonstrates the significant interest of the domestic market in this project and reflects the diversity of Italy's payments ecosystem. The selection includes operators representing the various segments of the sector, thereby helping to ensure a broad and diversified testing environment that can use a range of business and service models.

The pilot will begin in the second half of 2027 and will run for twelve months. During the testing phase, a beta version of the digital euro will be trialled with the aim of assessing its technical functionalities, operational processes and the user experience. The initiative is a key step in the preparations for the possible introduction of a digital euro and will help refine its design and how to use it. The final decision on whether to issue a digital euro will be taken by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, once the legislative process has been completed.

As part of the project, the payment service providers selected will work with Banca d'Italia and the European Central Bank to test the use of a digital euro in a controlled environment. This will involve a limited number of users and merchants and will make it possible to test different payment methods, both online and offline, as well as the processes for integrating a digital euro with the existing payment services.

'The participation in the pilot project of a broad and representative group of Italian operators, reflecting the diversity of the entities active in the sector, confirms the contribution that Italy's payments system can make to the development of a digital euro. It also demonstrates the focus and commitment with which Italian operators are preparing for this important development. The testing phase will provide a valuable opportunity for dialogue and cooperation between the market and the Eurosystem and will enable useful experience to be gained ahead of the next stages in the process towards the possible introduction of a digital euro,' said Chiara Scotti, Deputy Governor of Banca d'Italia and member of the Eurosystem's Digital Euro High-Level Task Force.