The European Central Bank has opened a new program to explore whether AI agents could use a future digital euro for payments, including micropayments and interactions between machines.
Summary
- ECB will test AI-enabled digital euro payments and machine interactions through workshops beginning in 2027.
- Experimentation participants will build prototypes for e-receipts, conditional payments, multiparty transactions, and new app features.
- Applications for the innovation platform close November 9, with selected work beginning during early 2027.
- Thirty-six payment providers will join a separate twelve-month digital euro pilot starting during 2027 operations.
- Any digital euro launch still depends on EU legislation and a later ECB issuance decision.
The ECB said on Sept. 28 that companies, payment firms, fintechs, merchants, public institutions and researchers can apply to join the next stage of its digital euro innovation platform, with work beginning in 2027.
The project will examine AI-enabled payment experiences, AI agents interacting with each other, micropayments and new features inside payment apps. Participants will be expected to consider privacy, user control and data protection when developing ideas.
Applications remain open until Nov. 9 at 17:00 CET. The ECB has separated the work into two programs, one focused on building working payment features and another looking at technologies that could become useful later.
Could AI agents make digital euro payments?
The exploration program will examine how AI could interact with a possible digital euro without committing to any specific feature for a future launch.
Among the areas the ECB wants participants to study are AI agents capable of interacting with payment systems and with other AI agents. The central bank has not said that autonomous AI payments will definitely become part of the digital euro.
Workshops will take place at the ECB’s Frankfurt headquarters during the first and second quarters of 2027. Selected organizations will discuss potential use cases involving consumers, merchants, businesses and public-sector services.
Micropayments form part of the same research track. Such payments could involve very small amounts that are difficult or expensive to process through some conventional payment methods. The ECB’s announcement does not specify transaction sizes or provide a technical model for how AI agents would authorize them.
Machine-to-machine interactions are another area under review. The ECB describes the program as an examination of future possibilities, meaning it is not announcing that devices or AI systems will receive unrestricted authority to spend digital euros.
Privacy requirements will form part of the discussions. The ECB says participants should consider privacy-by-design principles, user control and data protection when proposing AI-enabled payment functions.
In related coverage, crypto.news reported that the ECB has proposed cash-like privacy protections for future digital euro payments, while banks would still perform required identity and anti-money laundering checks for online transactions.
Companies will build digital euro payment prototypes
A second part of the program will move beyond workshops and ask selected companies to build working prototypes.
From January through June 2027, participants in the experimentation track will test four main areas: electronic receipts, payments involving several senders or recipients, conditional payments and new features for payment applications.
Electronic receipts could allow proof of purchase to appear directly alongside a digital euro payment in an app. The ECB says developers must consider user privacy while testing that function.
Multiparty payments could cover situations where several people contribute toward one transaction or where one payment needs to be divided among several recipients.
Conditional payments would be triggered when predetermined requirements are met. The ECB makes a distinction between this feature and programmable money.
Under the European Commission’s proposal, a digital euro would not be money restricted to certain products, merchants or periods. Conditional payments instead concern how a transaction is executed once agreed conditions are satisfied.
Participants will submit proofs of concept and reports describing their results. The ECB may invite some teams to present their work and could publish findings from the testing program.
The central bank has encouraged joint applications involving companies that perform different roles, such as a merchant working alongside a payment provider or technology company.
The AI project is separate from the 2027 digital euro pilot
The latest innovation program should not be confused with the ECB’s larger digital euro pilot.
The separate pilot is due to begin in the second half of 2027 and run for 12 months. It will use a beta version of the digital euro to test actual payment functions under controlled conditions.
The ECB has selected 36 payment service providers after receiving more than 50 applications. The group includes Deutsche Bank, Revolut Bank, Stripe Technology Europe, UniCredit, Adyen, SumUp and several other banks and payment firms operating across the euro area.
As crypto.news previously reported, Deutsche Bank, Revolut and Stripe are among the 36 firms selected for the digital euro pilot.
The pilot will involve the ECB and 19 euro-area national central banks. Staff members will use the beta currency to test person-to-person payments and purchases from participating merchants.
Transactions are expected to include online and offline person-to-person transfers, physical point-of-sale purchases, e-commerce payments and mobile transactions. The beta digital euro used during the exercise will not have legal tender status.
The ECB is still recruiting merchants for that program. Its current pilot page says e-commerce and mobile-commerce businesses can apply until Oct. 27, 2026.
Crypto.news previously covered the ECB’s call for merchants to test digital euro payments beginning in 2027, including online, mobile and physical payment scenarios.
A digital euro still needs legal approval
None of the testing means Europeans are certain to receive a digital euro.
The ECB says it will decide whether to issue the currency only after the required European Union legislation has been adopted. Its current planning targets readiness for a possible first issuance during 2029, assuming the legal framework progresses.
The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee approved its position on the core digital euro proposal in June 2026. The draft legislation covers areas including issuance, legal tender status, distribution, privacy, data protection and technical features.
As crypto.news reported, EU lawmakers advanced the proposed digital euro framework earlier this year, while final issuance still requires completion of the legislative process and a separate decision by the ECB’s Governing Council.
The ECB describes the proposed digital euro as digital central bank money for retail use alongside physical euro banknotes and coins. Banks and other supervised payment providers would distribute it to consumers instead of individuals opening ordinary accounts directly with the ECB.
Preparations already extend beyond the AI work. Earlier this year, the ECB reached agreements to reuse existing European payment standards so banks and merchants could connect digital euro services to current payment infrastructure. In related coverage, crypto.news reported that the ECB signed standards agreements intended to reduce digital euro integration costs.
The central bank has set a Nov. 9 deadline for companies seeking to join the new innovation program. Experimentation work will run from January through June 2027, while the AI, micropayment and public-service workshops will take place during the first half of the year at the ECB in Frankfurt.
