The European Central Bank (ECB), the Eurosystem, and Sveriges Riksbank concluded a cooperation agreement today, offering Sweden access to the Eurosystem's TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) to support the Swedish instant payment service, called RIX-INST, the ECB said in a statement today.
Based on this agreement, electronic Payments made in Swedish krona can be settled on the settlement platform for instant payments operated by the Eurosystem, it explains.
Payments will be cleared under the agreement as of May 2022.
"TIPS enables providers of payment services to transfer and settle their customers' funds in real time, around the clock, every day of the year, and it settles the payments in central bank money. It has been in use in the euro area since November 2018 to settle instant payments in euro. It had been conceived from the outset to also be able to settle other currencies," the ECB stated.
Significant daily volumes
Sweden is one of the most advanced European countries in terms of the use of instant payments, with significant daily volumes. Currently, the daily average number of instant payments in Sweden is 1.5 million per day.
The agreement is being signed by ECB President Christine Lagarde, the Governors of the Eurosystem's 19 national central banks, and Sveriges Riksbank Governor Stefan Ingves.
In crisis times, this agreement is a good example of strong cooperation between central banks in Europe, according to ECB President Christine Lagarde.
"Our real-time settlement platform is a pivotal contribution to Europe's endeavours to satisfy citizens' increasing demand for faster, cheaper and convenient payment services without compromising on security," Lagarde said.
