ECB picks Nexi and Deutsche Telekom as first-ranked network service provider for the digital euro platform

The European Central Bank announced on 30 October 2026 that it has selected two network service providers to supply the connectivity that links participating payment service providers and national central banks to the digital euro service platform, and has signed service agreements with both. Ranked first is a temporary grouping of Nexi Payments S.p.A and Deutsche Telekom Business Solutions GmbH, whose contract entered into force on 28 September 2026 and will initially cover connectivity for the digital euro pilot.

Ranked second is a temporary grouping of Telefónica de España, Telefónica Global Solutions and Indra Soluciones Tecnologías de la Información, whose contract starts in May 2027. The ECB says every payment service provider offering the digital euro will have the option to connect through either provider, that both providers will be ready as of 2029 for a potential first issuance subject to the Governing Council's decision on the next phase, and that the agreements allow the requested services to be adjusted as needs evolve through the pilot and later phases.

The procurement began with a call for applications on 27 August 2025 followed by an invitation to tender. The ECB did not publish contract values, durations or the number of bidders.

Connectivity is the layer every bank and PSP has to cross to reach the digital euro at all, so the first-ranked provider sits between the Eurosystem and the whole distribution side of the scheme from the pilot onward. Winning it puts Nexi, already the largest acquirer in Italy and a top-three European payments group, inside the infrastructure of the project that its own card business will eventually compete with, and gives it a Eurosystem reference no competitor can match on the next tenders.

It also dates the operational build: a contract in force since 28 September 2026 and a second provider from May 2027 means the pilot's plumbing is contracted while the Digital Euro Regulation is still in trilogue, which is a measure of how far ECB preparation now runs ahead of the legislation.

Whether the ECB publishes contract values or durations, how PSPs split between the two providers once the pilot opens, and whether the Governing Council's decision on the next phase arrives in time to keep the stated 2029 issuance readiness.

• ecb.europa.eu
• Finextra, 30 October 2026