EBA Clearing, a bank-owned provider of pan-European payment infrastructure, has published requirements for pan-European instant payments for corporates. These were issued in a blueprint document on 1 July in Paris, where the organisation is headquartered.

The company, which runs the EURO1 and STEP2 systems, referred to the blueprint document as a milestone on the journey towards clearing and settlement solutions for instant payment transactions in euro.

The measure will enable corporate treasurers to make instant payments in euro, which could speed up cash flows and reduce risks associated with delays in payments.

Hays Littlejohn, CEO at EBA Clearing, said: “We are planning to discuss these requirements and the proposed roadmap with our wider user community and key stakeholders over the coming months and look forward to their feedback. The next step is to further refine and specify these requirements based on this input, so that we can take them to potential technology suppliers before the end of this year.”

Timeline

The process towards instant payments infrastructure in Europe has the following timeline:

• Q3 2015: EBA Clearing will seek feedback on the requirements outlined in the blueprint document and the proposed roadmap from its user community and stakeholders.
• End of 2015: It will then refine the requirements based on the feedback and will take the proposal to potential technology suppliers by the end of 2015.
• 2017: It aims to launch a pilot of the new solution in 2017
• 2018: This will be followed by an official launch in 2018.

An electronic copy of EBA CLEARING’s Blueprint for an Instant Payment Infrastructure Solution is made available to the interested public for information and can be requested via the following link: www.ebaclearing.eu