Instant payment are coming world-wide:

• In Australia: New Payments Platform - a platform is a mixture of new processes for settling transactions between banks, guided by the Reserve Bank of Australia. 
• In USA: instant payment schemes in US - all major banks are members
• In Europe: On 14 June: SWIFT confirmed that it had launched a messaging service that will allow instant payments to be made in Europe via the SWIFT network.
• In Europe: On 22 June the European Central Bank (ECB) confirmed that it will launch TARGET instant payment settlement (TIPS), its new instant retail payments service for the euro area, in November 2018. This followed the release of the draft TIPS system specifications in May, and marks the beginning of the official countdown to the service itself.
• In Europe: 7 August, 2018 – SWIFT announced that it has been certified by the Eurosystem to provide connectivity to TIPS - TARGET Instant Payment Settlement – from its  go live date on 30 November 2018.

SWIFTNet Instant

SWIFTNet Instant offers seamless connectivity to multiple clearing and settlement mechanisms (CSMs). This means customers will not have to build bespoke links to each system but will have access through a single interface to multiple instant payments systems in Europe for both domestic and cross-border payments. In the first instance, this will include TIPS and RT1, the instant payment services offered by the Eurosystem and EBA CLEARING respectively. 

SWIFT customers will be able to transition to instant payments simply and smoothly by leveraging existing investment in their SWIFT infrastructure. They will also have the reassurance of working with known and proven processes, and will be offered complete on-boarding services to reduce risk and manage costs. 

SWIFT’s solution for TIPS is designed as a key building block for access to the future Eurosystem Single Market Infrastructure Gateway (ESMIG). The next major milestone for ESMIG will be the T2/T2S consolidation in 2021. Adapting their systems and processes to access this single European gateway will be one of the most crucial tasks facing European financial institutions in the coming years. By implementing SWIFTNet Instant, SWIFT claim that customers will be adopting a future-proof solution that will facilitate their migration to ESMIG.

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CTMfile take: The availability of instant payment services is and will change how we do business. How is it going to change your business model?