ECB puts AI agent payments on the digital euro drawing board
The European Central Bank is inviting fintechs, payment firms and other organizations to test how AI agents and other innovations could work with a digital euro. Its new innovation platform has two parts: hands-on experimentation and workshops on future uses. From January to June 2027, selected participants will build prototypes for e-receipts, multiparty and conditional payments, and new user interfaces. Workshops in early 2027 will focus on AI-enabled payments, micropayments, machine-to-machine transactions, and public-sector uses. Some participants will present findings in Frankfurt, and the ECB may use the results to shape future digital euro features. The digital euro would be a retail central bank digital currency used alongside cash. A separate pilot with 36 banks and payment firms is set for late 2027, though issuance still needs EU law and a later ECB decision.
