The European Central Bank announced on 30 October that it has signed contracts with two network service providers for the digital euro: a grouping of Nexi Payments and Deutsche Telekom Business Solutions, and a grouping of Telefónica de España, Telefónica Global Solutions and Indra. The providers will connect payment service providers and national central banks to the digital euro platform. The first contract has applied since 28 September and initially covers the pilot, while the second starts in May 2027. Both will be ready from 2029 for a possible issuance, subject to a Governing Council decision.

What it means: The award is another step moving the digital euro from plans to delivery, even though the final decision on issuance has not been taken. Choosing two providers rather than one supports resilience, so that an outage or a problem with one supplier does not stop the system, and gives banks a choice in how they connect. One grouping includes Nexi, which has a strong presence in payment processing including in Greece, and the other includes European telecoms groups, which fits the ECB's aim of a European payments infrastructure less dependent on international card schemes. For Greek banks and payment institutions, the announcement gives a more concrete timetable for planning: the pilot requires a connection through the first provider, while full operation will need a decision on which network to use and how it fits into existing systems. For merchants and terminal providers, 2029 is the horizon for support at the point of sale, so it is worth raising the topic in new equipment contracts.

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