In an age of digital transformation, SIX offers secure and convenient payment solutions for a sustainable Swiss financial center.
SIX offers smart, flexible solutions for banks issuing debit cards. Our issuing processing is precisely tailored to cardholders’ needs.
With its Bancomat system, SIX operates the largest ATM network in Switzerland and is your partner for cash solutions related to ATMs.
SIX offers payments processing services between financial institutions.
The Swiss financial center is introducing beneficial standards, and also taking the opportunity to harmonize payments.
We apply advanced data science techniques to unlock the potential of data and develop value-added data solutions. Our goal is to provide easy access to data so that our customers can grow, make smart decisions and achieve sustainable success.
When Every Second Counts
The payee’s account is credited and the payer’s account is debited virtually simultaneously – in less than ten seconds, regardless of the time of day or day of the week. The funds are available immediately, and there is full transparency about the expenditure at all times. That's instant payment, the new normal – the timely answer to the ongoing digitalization of economy and society.
Instant payment is already a reality in many countries. In order to make it possible in Switzerland as well, SIX and the Swiss National Bank launched the new generation of the central payment infrastructure – the “SIC5” platform – on 17 November 2023. With the launch of the fifth generation of the SIC system, the prerequisites for the immediate and final value transfer of cashless customer payments were created, thus laying the foundation for instant payments in Switzerland. With regard to the participation of banks, the Swiss National Bank decided in June 2021 to make the acceptance of such payments mandatory for financial institutions (see SNB media conference). Since August 2024, the biggest Swiss banks must be able to process instant payments, with the remaining banks following suit by 2026.
From the payment being initiated to the funds being credited to the payee.
Instant payments can be made around the clock, 7 days a week, throughout the year, without exception.
Instant payment is characterized by speed and immediate execution around the clock: The payer’s account is debited immediately and almost simultaneously with the funds being made available to the payee’s account. Speed alone is not necessarily a compelling quality – the focus is on the specific benefit that can be achieved through this new speed.
The advantages of instant payment include the following:
There are further advantages for companies (business customers). Thanks to instant payment, they have direct access to their incoming payments and thus benefit from significantly improved cash flow management. The result: greater scope for process automation, simplified liquidity management, and reduced settlement risk.
These and many more examples demonstrate: Both the payer and the payee benefit from instant payment in many ways. Speed and immediate execution eliminate uncertainty and credit risk for all parties especially financial institutions.
The difference between a conventional credit transfer and an instant payment is striking. With a conventional transfer within Switzerland, the money is “in transit” for longer, until it is credited after a few hours, the next day or even later – depending on whether the transfer is triggered during the day or at night, on a weekend, on a weekday or on a holiday. With an instant payment, on the other hand, it doesn’t matter what time or day of the week the payer initiates the transfer – the payment is always processed in ten seconds or less.
New players in payment traffic often use solutions that resemble instant payments. These solutions may match the definition of instant payment, but they do not have to. Immediate notification following a payment does not necessarily mean that the payment has already been fully processed.
It is important to note the difference between clearing and settlement. Clearing means that the payee’s bank has accepted the transaction and agreed to process it. Settlement is the harder currency: the banks involved actually process the transaction between themselves. This means that the money is available to the payee, and there is no counterparty risk.
Together with the Swiss National Bank, SIX has developed the new infrastructure for processing instant payments. This went live in November 2023, and banks are currently being onboarded.
Receipt of instant payments will become mandatory for Swiss financial institutions in two phases:
Since 20 August 2024, over 100 financial institutions, which together cover more than 95% of customer payments in Switzerland, have been able to receive instant payments and process them in seconds
Project Manager Christopher Koch (SIX), Product Manager Bruno Kudermann (SIX) and Romano Ramanti (ZKB, Certified Ethical Hacker) reported on the specifications of the IP-service as well as learnings from other countries with regard to instant payments at the webinar for risk and fraud managers.
Read the post in our trade magazine PAY.
PAY is the SIX trade magazine for payment transactions. Receive relevant information on the latest trends shaping payment transactions.
In 35 European countries, over 2,700 banks and payment service providers are currently able to process instant payments, which corresponds to 78% of all institutions, although there are major differences between the individual countries. The share of instant payments, or more precisely SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst), in all conventional credit transfers (SCT) is around 25% – and the trend is increasing (source: European Payments Council). Nevertheless, instant payments have not yet become the standard.
Due to the hesitant acceptance of instant payments, the Council of the European Union adopted the Regulation on Instant Payments on February 26 (see Council adopts regulation on instant payments). Payment service providers, such as banks that offer SEPA credit transfers, will have to offer consumers and businesses the ability to send and receive SEPA instant payments. Specifically, payment service providers will have to provide a service for receiving instant payments by 9 January 2025 and a service for sending instant payments by 9 October 2025. In addition, the Regulation stipulates that the charges for instant payments may not be higher than the charges for standard credit transfers (source: Regulation (EU) 2024/886).
For financial institutions, payment transactions are a key way of interacting with customers. Instant payments reinforce this role by facilitating new services and meeting the evolving expectations of households and businesses, who have become accustomed to the immediacy of digital services.
For the Swiss National Bank, instant payments are a central component of developing Swiss payment traffic further. They facilitate the secure transfers in central bank money in seconds, at any time, and improve liquidity management and reduce counterparty risk, thereby contributing to the efficiency and stability of the financial system.
In order for instant payments to become the standard in the medium term, greater participation from all Swiss financial institutions is required. The IP service has been available since 2023. Customers of well over 100 financial institutions can receive incoming instant payments according to the Bank Master. The payment infrastructure already enables the full processing of transfers between banks, including at weekends and on public holidays. It is also important for financial institutions that the SNB will also guarantee liquidity supply at weekends from the end of 2027 (see Payment System Support Facility).
Instant payments are therefore not only a new payment instrument, but also a driving force for the further development of the Swiss financial center.
Here you can find our marketing materials to inform your customers about instant payment.
Missing something? Please don’t hesitate to e-mail us at marcom-bbs@six-group.com
The factsheet sums up all the most important information and key data on instant payment.
The FAQ contains answers to the most important and frequently asked questions about instant payment. The document will be added to and updated on an ongoing basis.
The text modules provide templates that can be used in customer communications as needed.
The explanatory video promotes a better understanding of instant payment among the general public.
A corresponding figurative mark was designed for the recognition of instant payment in Switzerland, which can be used independently or in conjunction with the name in German, English, French or Italian. The figurative mark is available for download in various formats and colors.
This online tool allows you to generate a figurative mark (with or without the naming) in the color of your choice. Enter the hex code or RGB value for the desired color and download the image mark as SVG (vector format) and/or PNG (pixel format) file.
Key visuals and illustrations from SIX are available for download and may be used in connection with the topic of instant payment.
All rights to the material provided are held by SIX. The marketing material (including images) may only be used in connection with the marketing of instant payment.
SIX and the Swiss National Bank have launched the new generation of the Swiss payment system, known as SIC5.
Fast, secure, and available anytime: Instant payments are revolutionizing the Swiss payment system, enabling real-time transfers — 24/7, 365 days a year. But how does this new payment method work, and what does instant payment mean for our daily lives?