Banks from France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Russia and Spain have joined with SWIFT to test real-time gpi cross-border payments through the Eurosystem’s Target Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) system.

SWIFT and the European Central Banks (ECB) are launching the initiative with European banks to extend the reach of instant cross-border payments in the European market.

SWIFT said the ability to process gpi cross-border payments instantly, even when the final legs of the payments have to be cleared on arrival within the destination country, is key to ensuring ubiquitous availability of real-time cross-border payments.

When the final stages of a payment need to be cleared within the recipient country, payments are sometimes delayed due to local clearing systems.

SWIFT’s gpi aims to provide 24/7 payment systems and longer ‘credit windows’ enabled by the continuous availability of central bank money settlement, such as that offered by TIPS.

Institutions participating in the European pilot include Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, BBVA, Deutsche Bank, Natixis, Santander, Sberbank and UniCredit.

Alain Raes, chief executive of EMEA and Asia Pacific at SWIFT, said: “This trial is another critical step in extending the reach and utility of our cross-border instant payments service. By linking SWIFT gpi and TIPS, our customers will be able to leverage their existing investments to deliver a superior service to their clients.”

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