• TARGET instant payment settlement (TIPS) now operational
• TIPS means consumers can make retail payments across Europe instantly, 24/7/365
The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched an innovative pan-European service for settling electronic payments instantly. TARGET instant payment settlement (TIPS) uses central bank money to settle payments individually in less than 10 seconds.
The first transaction was between clients of Spanish bank, CaixaBank, and French bank, Natixis. Together with Abanca Corporación Bancaria, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Banco de Crédito Social Cooperativo, Berlin Hyp, Caja Laboral Popular Cooperativa de Crédito and Teambank, they are the first banks to join TIPS.
Operating under the principle of full cost recovery, TIPS has no entry or maintenance fees for account holders. The price per initiated transaction is set at €0.002 for the first two years of operation, with no charges for the first ten million payments settled on each TIPS account by the end of 2019.
Banks across Europe can now follow the lead of France, Germany and Spain, which have already connected to TIPS, by linking to the platform and developing user-friendly solutions that support the take-up of instant payments by appealing to both retailers and consumers.