The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced plans to develop a new instant payments settlement system, allowing EU citizens and firms to transfer money anywhere in the world within a matter of seconds.

The governing council of the ECB will develop the Target Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) platform, which is scheduled to begin operating in November 2018, and will enable real-time payments and will be available around the clock, 365 days a year.

The ECB is responsible for the smooth and effective functioning of payment systems in the euro area. It has already developed TARGET2, the Eurosystem’s Real Time Gross Settlement System, used to process large value payments in euro in real time.

TIPS, as part of TARGET2, will help facilitate instant money transfers, offered via banks, so that citizens and firms can make instant retail payments across Europe.

By providing TIPS, the ECB said it 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.

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