The digital euro is generating debate around some of Europe's biggest payment and financial questions: monetary sovereignty, privacy, competition with stablecoins and the role of US-based payment solutions.
But behind these strategic discussions lies a much more practical question for payment service providers (PSPs), acquirers and payment technology teams:
How will a payment terminal actually accept the digital euro?
The answer is closely linked to CPACE, the European contactless payment kernel selected as part of the technical foundations for digital euro acceptance at the point of sale.
For PSPs and acquirers preparing for the digital euro pilot, understanding what CPACE means, and how to integrate and certify a CPACE kernel, is becoming a concrete technical priority.
CPACE and the digital euro: a strategic European choice
For contactless digital euro payments at the point of sale, the European Central Bank (ECB) had several technical options.
One possibility would have been to rely on EMVCo payment kernels, which are widely used across the global card payment ecosystem. Instead, Europe chose to build on existing European technical standards that are open and accessible to market participants.
This approach avoids creating a proprietary kernel specifically for the digital euro while reducing reliance on standards controlled by international payment schemes.
The ECB's approach involves three key European standardisation organisations:
- ECPC, whose CPACE standard manages NFC contactless communication between the payer's device and the payment terminal;
- nexo standards, which covers communication between merchant systems and PSP and acquirer back-end systems;
- The Berlin Group, which addresses alias-based payments, including payments initiated through mobile applications.
This makes CPACE a key component of digital euro acceptance at the point of sale.
What is CPACE?
CPACE is not a completely new technology for the European payments ecosystem. It is already used as a technical foundation by domestic payment schemes, including Cartes Bancaires in France, or Bancontact in Belgium.
For organisations already working with these ecosystems, CPACE is therefore not an entirely new technological concept.
However, the digital euro introduces a new requirement: PSPs and acquirers that have not previously integrated a CPACE kernel will need to make this capability available on their payment terminals and devices.
That makes CPACE an increasingly important topic for payment technology, product and certification teams.
Why CPACE integration matters for payment terminal manufacturers and PSPs ?
A payment kernel is much more than a software configuration.
It is a software component embedded in a payment terminal or payment device that handles the technical processing required for contactless transactions. It must comply with specific requirements and go through L2 & L3 certification processes before it can be deployed in a production environment.
For organisations preparing their payment infrastructure for the digital euro, integrating a CPACE kernel can involve several steps:
- CPACE kernel integration or development
- Compliance testing against the relevant technical specifications
- EMV Level 2-style certification requirements, where applicable to the implementation
- Integration into the payment terminal software stack
- Deployment across the existing terminal estate
- Support for different device environments, including Commercial off-the-Shelf (CoTS) devices such as SoftPOS
These technical steps require planning. Kernel integration and certification cannot simply be added at the last minute to a digital euro implementation project.
Digital euro pilot: why the timeline matters ?
The official digital euro pilot is currently planned for the second half of 2027, with preparation beginning literally NOW.
The ECB selected 36 PSPs following its call for expressions of interest, which attracted more than 50 applications from March 2026 onwards.
For the organisations involved, this makes the question of digital euro payment terminal readiness increasingly concrete.
The challenge is not simply deciding whether to support the digital euro. PSPs and acquirers also need to determine:
- Which payment devices will support digital euro acceptance?
- How will the kernel be certified?
- How will it be deployed across the existing terminal estate?
- How will PCI PTS and CoTS/SoftPOS environments be handled?
- How much integration and certification time is required before pilot deployment?
The earlier these questions are addressed, the easier it becomes to incorporate digital euro acceptance into existing product and certification roadmaps.
CPACE kernel: build or integrate ?
For payment technology teams, one of the key decisions is whether to develop a CPACE kernel internally or integrate an existing certified solution.
Developing a payment kernel in-house provides control over the software component but also means taking responsibility for development, maintenance, compliance testing and certification.
Using an existing certified CPACE kernel can significantly reduce the technical and certification workload.
Instead of treating CPACE as a standalone transformation programme, PSPs and acquirers can approach it as a payment technology building block that needs to be integrated into their existing terminal and payment infrastructure.
This distinction is particularly relevant as organisations prepare for the digital euro pilot.
A certified CPACE kernel can accelerate digital euro readiness
At Amadis, CPACE is part of our L2 payment kernel portfolio, designed to support different payment device environments.
Our CPACE kernel is available for both PCI PTS payment terminals and CoTS devices, including SoftPOS environments, and is already deployed in production by several customers, including organisations involved in the digital euro pilot.
Using a certified kernel library can help PSPs and acquirers reduce the development and certification workload associated with adding CPACE to their payment infrastructure.
It also allows product and engineering teams to focus on the part of the digital euro that ultimately matters to merchants and consumers: a seamless, secure and reliable payment experience.
Preparing your payment infrastructure for the digital euro
For PSPs, acquirers and payment technology providers preparing for the digital euro, CPACE kernel integration is a technical requirement that deserves attention now.
The key questions are no longer only about the future of digital payments in Europe. They are also about the practical implementation of digital euro acceptance on payment terminals and SoftPOS devices.
If your organisation is preparing for the digital euro pilot and needs to integrate or certify a CPACE payment kernel, the Amadis team can support you throughout the process.
Contact Amadis at contact@amadis.ca to discuss your CPACE integration and digital euro acceptance requirements.
