The European Central Bank announced on 14 July 2026 that it has selected 36 payment service providers (PSPs) to participate in a 12-month digital euro beta pilot scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027. Revolut Bank UAB — the Lithuanian-licensed entity through which Revolut serves EU customers — is among the selected providers alongside Deutsche Bank, UniCredit, Adyen, SumUp, Worldline, and Stripe.
The 36 PSPs were chosen from more than 50 applicants covering 16 of the 21 euro-area countries. The selection spans both traditional banks and non-bank payment providers, reflecting the ECB’s intent to test the digital euro across a broad range of business models.
What the pilot will test
During the pilot, participants will distribute a beta version of the digital euro for online, offline, in-store, and e-commerce payments. Initial end users will be ECB and national central bank staff only. Two categories of PSP involvement are defined: distributors (who give Eurosystem staff access to digital euro accounts and payments) and acquirers (who sign up merchants to accept the digital euro).
What this means for EU neobank customers
No customer-facing product changes are expected before at least 2027, and full issuance by 2029 remains contingent on the EU Digital Euro Regulation passing through the European Parliament and Council, followed by a separate ECB Governing Council vote.
For Revolut specifically, participation in the pilot positions Revolut Bank UAB as part of the ECB’s core infrastructure planning for a potential central bank digital currency (CBDC) — an important institutional signal given Revolut’s ongoing MiCA CASP authorisation process in Lithuania.
Context: The ECB launched the digital euro preparation phase in November 2023 following a two-year investigation phase. The call for PSP expressions of interest opened in March 2026. The pilot does not commit the ECB to issuing the digital euro — issuance requires both legislative finalisation and a Governing Council decision that has not yet been taken.
Source: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2026/html/ecb.pr260714~8cd07d9d45.en.html