Financial Coalition To Trial Faster Cross-Border Payments Between Europe And The US

With bank support on both sides of the Atlantic, EBA Clearing, Swift, and The Clearing House (TCH) are launching a pilot project on immediate cross-border payments (IXB).

By the end of this year, the pilot, designed with the help of 24 financial institutions, should be underway. The service aims to speed up cross-border payments by leveraging the quickest domestic payment methods.

In October, several financial institutions conducted a few proof-of-concept trials, which led to the IXB project. A PoC demonstrated the capability of synchronizing settlement in one instant payment system with settlement in the other, as well as converting real-time messages between systems.

This service will initially support instant payments in the US dollar and euro currency corridor, using Swift Go, EBA Clearing, and TCH instant payment systems.

According to Erwin Kulk, head of service development and management at EBA Clearing, this initiative is designed to make life easier for financial institutions. The fact that RT1 and RTP participants will not have to connect to a separate payment system should make the service particularly appealing to a wide range of firms.