The European Central Bank opened applications on September 28, 2026, for the next stage of its digital euro innovation platform, inviting companies, payment firms, fintechs, merchants, public institutions and researchers to examine AI-enabled payments and build prototypes during 2027. Applications close November 9 at 17:00 CET, with selected work beginning in early 2027. The program will explore AI agents, machine-to-machine interactions, micropayments and public-sector payment uses, while requiring participants to consider privacy-by-design, user control and data protection. A separate experimentation track running from January through June will test e-receipts, multiparty payments, conditional payments and payment-app features. The work is distinct from a 12-month pilot involving 36 payment service providers, including Deutsche Bank, Revolut Bank, Stripe Technology Europe, UniCredit, Adyen and SumUp, due to start in the second half of 2027. A digital euro would still require EU legislation and a subsequent ECB issuance decision.