New Generation of Swiss Payment System Enables Instant Payment. Banks Are Now Implementing Customer Solutions.

SIX and the Swiss National Bank have launched the new generation of the Swiss payment system, known as SIC5. It creates the technical prerequisites for the processing of instant payments, enabling electronic customer payments to be made around the clock, seven days a week, and in a matter of seconds. Approximately 70 financial institutions will join the new instant payment service by the time it goes live on August 20, 2024. The enhanced Implementation Guidelines will serve as the basis for their customer-bank interface solutions.

New Generation of Swiss Payment System Enables Instant Payment. Banks Are Now Implementing Customer Solutions.
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In November 2023, the Swiss financial center put the Instant Payment Service (IP service) of the central Swiss payment system SIC into operation. This created the technical prerequisites for the immediate and final transfer of value for cashless customer payments. The close cooperation between the Swiss National Bank, SIX and the financial institutions enabled the successful launch of the new infrastructure, the "SIC5" platform. This important milestone reflects the strong commitment of all parties involved to the future viability of payment traffic in Switzerland.

Preparations In Full Swing

Around 70 financial institutions will connect to the IP service by the official launch on 20 August 2024. Together, they will cover the majority of customer payment transactions in Switzerland. Technical preparations at the financial institutions are in full swing to ensure that they can offer appropriate end-customer solutions to the Swiss population and businesses. Benefits include the immediate availability of incoming funds, e.g. even during off-peak hours or weekends. This creates more scope for process automation, simplifies liquidity management and reduces settlement risk.

Since 15 December 2023, detailed and binding information is publicly available to support financial institutions and their software partners in implementing solutions at the customer-bank interface (e.g., e-banking channel). This information is contained in the Report on the Results of Part I of the Consultation Procedure on SPS 2024 and will be incorporated into the current Implementation Guidelines – for credit transfers, status reports and cash management. The new Implementation Guidelines for financial institutions will be published in February 2024.

Further information

Any questions?

Please do not hesitate to contact Jürg Schneider.

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About SIX
SIX provides and operates stable and efficient infrastructure for the Swiss and Spanish financial centers, thus ensuring access to the capital markets and the flow of information and money between financial market players. As a global provider of financial information, SIX delivers high-quality reference, pricing, corporate actions, and ESG data and provides regulatory services and indices to clients around the world. The company is owned by its users (more than 120 banks) with a workforce of 4,160 employees and a presence in 19 countries.
www.six-group.com

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