OVHcloud has been chosen by the European Central Bank (ECB) to provide sovereign cloud services to its "digital euro project."

The project aims to provide a digital means of payment for electronic payments in shops, online, or in person, while maintaining financial sovereignty.

Senacor Technologies has developed a Secure Exchange of Payment Information technology for the digital Euro project. French cloud and data center firm OVH, meanwhile, will provide sovereign cloud infrastructure operated within the European Union for the service.

“As the European cloud leader, we are delighted to have been selected, through our partner Senacor, as a cloud provider in the establishment of the digital euro. As such, we are contributing as a sovereign European provider with certified data centers in Europe. Together with Senacor, we can support the implementation of secure, compliant, and innovative cloud services for the ECB,” said Sylvie Houliere Mayca, head of France-Middle East-Africa-BeLux at OVHcloud.

“The digital euro is a key strategic project for the European financial market. The requirements for a secure, scalable, and sovereign infrastructure are correspondingly high. With its European cloud expertise and clear focus on data and technological sovereignty, OVHcloud was a very good fit,” added Dr. Ruben Debeerst, partner principal consultant at Senacor Technologies.

According to the ECB website, the necessity for a digital euro is due to there currently not being a "European digital payment option that covers the entire euro area, with 13 out of 20 countries reliant on international card schemes for card payments."

Currently, if all European co-legislators adopt the regulation for the digital euro this year, it is hoped that the first issuance will be made during 2029.

OVHcloud currently spans 46 data centers globally. In Europe, the company has locations in Gravelines, Paris, Roubaix, and Strasbourg, France; Frankfurt, Germany; Warsaw, Poland; and London, the UK.

In the company's latest earnings call, OVH stated it is working towards a “new target of €2 billion ($2.33bn) in revenue,” but the timeline associated with this remains unclear. Revenue for its first quarter totaled €275.3 million ($320m), up six percent Year-on-Year.