The European Central Bank is seeking fintechs, payment firms and other organizations to explore the use of AI agents in digital euro payments. According to Cointelegraph, the ECB opened applications on Monday for a new round of its digital euro innovation platform, splitting the program into hands-on testing of payment features and workshops focused on future digital euro uses. The experimentation track will run from January through June 2027, with selected participants building prototypes for e-receipts, multiparty transactions, conditional payments and new front-end features. Workshops in the first half of 2027 will examine AI-enabled payments, micropayments, machine-to-machine interactions and potential uses of the digital euro in public services.

A subset of participants will present at the ECB’s Frankfurt headquarters, and the central bank said the findings could help shape future enhancements and use cases for the digital euro. The digital euro is a proposed central bank digital currency for retail payments across the euro area and would function as digital cash alongside banknotes and coins. The ECB has already selected 36 banks and payment firms, including Revolut, Stripe and Deutsche Bank, for a separate 12-month pilot beginning in the second half of 2027. Any issuance would still require EU legislation and a subsequent ECB decision.