ECB to set up a fast-secure system payment in eurozone

The European Central Bank (ECB) said it will set up an instant payment system across the eurozone allowing consumers and firms to send money "within a matter of seconds".

The new service, TARGET instant payment settlement (TIPS), will enable citizens and firms to transfer money between each other in real time and will be available around the clock, 365 days a year.
It said the new network "will allow citizens and firms to make payments via their bank anywhere in the euro area within a matter of seconds", and is scheduled to come into operation in November 2018.

By providing TIPS, the ECB will make sure that the demand for instant payments is met at European level and further facilitate the integration of the euro area. The service will be developed in close cooperation with the banking industry in Europe and will be offered to banks at the low price of a maximum of 0.20 eurocent (€0.0020) per payment for at least the first two years of operation.

Instant payments are already available in the Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, with the ECB now offering the technology across the 19-country bloc as way of reducing the threat of financial fragmentation in the single currency area. The service will also pave the way for consumers to make person-to-person mobile payments, said the ECB.