The pilot project, as expected by the ECB, will be launched in the second half of 2027 and will last for a year. A full-fledged introduction of the currency is scheduled for 2029.
The introduction of the digital euro could cost European banks between €4 billion and €6 billion ($4.7 billion to $7.1 billion), spread over four years. This was announced by Piero Cipollone, a member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council, as reported by Reuters. According to him, this amount is equivalent to approximately 3% of banks' annual IT system maintenance costs.
He also said that the creation of a new digital currency from the central bank, which exists exclusively in digital form, on which the ECB is working, is estimated at about 1.3 billion euros. Operational costs after launch will be about 300 million euros, Cipollone added, without specifying whether this is an annual figure.
Banks will be able to compensate for the costs
According to Cipollone, banks will be able to recoup their costs through fees they receive from merchants for providing services related to digital euro transactions. Banks will be responsible for providing users with the mobile applications necessary for making digital euro payments, he explained.
However, banks will not have to deduct the costs they typically incur when working with private payment networks from merchant fees, as the ECB will not charge fees for using its own payment infrastructure.
The ECB is currently selecting credit institutions interested in participating in the pilot phase of the project.
Trading companies, in turn, will also receive an economic incentive: the fees for payments in digital euros will be capped, and this ceiling will be lower than the fees currently charged by international payment systems such as Mastercard and Visa, according to Cipollone.
Who is in favor of and against the digital euro
The ECB expects the European Union to pass the legislation necessary for the issuance of the digital euro this year. The regulator views the project as a tool to preserve the role of public money in the digital economy, unify Europe's fragmented payment infrastructure, and limit dependence on non-EU payment service providers to protect the bloc's monetary sovereignty and economic security.
In January 2026, more than 60 European economists and academics sent an open letter to European Parliament members urging them to support the digital euro project. According to the letter, the authors believe that a lack of support for the initiative would lead to a loss of control over the European monetary system and increase the eurozone's dependence on American payment companies. In February, the European Parliament supported the issuance of the digital euro in both online and offline modes.
Supporters of the digital euro warn that without a full-fledged digital euro, Europe's dependence will only increase as private digital currencies supported by American companies grow. According to Cipollone, out of the 21 countries in the Eurozone, 13 are completely dependent on international payment systems.
However, the project faces resistance from the banking sector. As previously reported by the Financial Times, major European banks, including Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, and ING, have advocated a significant reduction in the scope of the digital euro, warning that it could undermine private payment solutions and lead to a withdrawal of deposits. The German banking lobby has described the ECB's initiative as "too complex" and "too expensive." According to the ECB, in the event of a mass exodus of depositors in the event of financial panic, the digital euro could cause an outflow of up to 699 billion euros from commercial banks in the eurozone, which would create liquidity problems for about a dozen credit institutions.