The European Central Bank (ECB) has opened a call for companies and other organisations to join a new round of Eurosystem work on digital euro innovation.

Merchants, payment service providers (PSPs), fintechs and research institutes are among those who can apply.

Building on the innovation platform the ECB launched in 2024, this round has two tracks, experimentation and exploration.

The ECB digital euro experimentation track aims to turn promising ideas into working solutions.

It covers four areas, namely e-receipts, payments with several payers or payees, conditional payments and payment app features.

For example, the receipts work will look at how e-receipts could appear in payment apps while protecting user privacy.

In addition, conditional payment tools should follow common approaches and work across providers.

This track should run from January to June 2027. During that time, participants will build and test solutions and send in a proof of concept and an outcome report.

Meanwhile, the exploration track will study how AI could work with a digital euro. Topics include AI agents, how they interact and micropayments.

Participants will also check how their ideas fit with privacy by design, user control and data protection.

A second area covers public services such as transport, utility bills, smart city projects and financial inclusion.

Workshops for this track will run at the ECB’s premises in the first half of 2027.

Applications close at 5pm CET on 9 November 2026. The ECB encourages joint entries, especially those that combine roles, such as a merchant and a PSP.

When reviewing entries, it will look at factors such as innovation potential and expertise.

For the experimentation track, technical readiness will count too. Finally, the ECB aims for a mix of regions and industries. Full details are on the ECB website.

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