Telefónica and Minsait win ECB contract for digital euro networks

Telefónica and Minsait win ECB contract for digital euro networks

30 October 2026: The European Central Bank has picked a consortium of Telefónica and Minsait, the Indra Group's technology arm, as one of two successful tenderers to build the communications and security infrastructure for a future digital euro. The ten-year contract enters into force on 3 May 2027, Telefónica said on 30 October; neither company gave its value.

Not yet independently verified. We have read Telefónica's release but not the ECB's award notice on TED, which blocked our fetch, so the contract value and the name of the second successful tenderer are not known to us. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

The network would connect the ECB with the public and private intermediaries that would hand out and process the digital currency: banks, fintech companies and payment service providers.

Who builds which layer

The work splits along the two companies' lines of business. Telefónica, through Telefónica Global Solutions and Telefónica Tech, provides and runs the communications infrastructure: an MPLS network linking the participants' sites, SD-WAN for connectivity across multiple locations, and cybersecurity services.

Minsait takes the layer above. It supplies the platforms that let participants' applications and systems connect and integrate through APIs, and through IndraMind Cybersecurity it provides digital identity, certificates and trust services. A security operations centre watches for threats, while identification and access controls check who is connecting and communications between applications on the platform are encrypted.

"The digital euro is one of the most transformative technology and financial projects currently being undertaken in Europe," said Luis Fernández, Minsait's chief executive. Borja Ochoa, chairman of Telefónica España, called the project a step towards "a more digital, secure and sovereign Europe".

A contract for a currency that does not exist yet

The release is careful to speak of a "future" digital euro, described as a means of payment accepted throughout the euro area alongside cash, including for payments made without an internet connection. The award buys the network before the currency exists, on a ten-year term that runs well past its 2027 start.

Two tenderers were selected for this lot. Telefónica does not name the other, and the award notice it cites on the EU's TED procurement portal could not be read from here.

Where this lands for banks and payment firms

For a bank or payment service provider planning for the digital euro, the award sets out the shape of the connection it would eventually make: a managed private network rather than the public internet, API-based integration, and certificate-based identity issued under the scheme's own trust services. Connection rules, onboarding dates and costs for intermediaries are not in the release.

Our catalogue lists 14 products in payment processing software, the systems that would sit on the intermediaries' side of that connection.

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Sources

• Telefónica: Telefónica and Minsait to develop secure communications for the European Central Bank's digital euro, 30 October 2026
• TED: contract award notice 756210-2026 (European Central Bank), cited by Telefónica, not opened by us, 30 October 2026
• DPL News: Telefónica y Minsait desarrollarán las comunicaciones seguras para el euro digital del Banco Central Europeo, 2 November 2026