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.
Payments – At All Times and Without Delay
The account of the payee is credited at the same time the payer’s account is debited simultaneously – in less than ten seconds, regardless of the time of day or day of the week. Here, the funds are available immediately, and there, there is always full transparency of spending. 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, the expansion of the central payment infrastructure (the SIC systems) is underway. With the launch of the fifth generation of SIC at the end of 2023, SIX will lay the foundation for instant payment in Switzerland. As far as the banks’ participation is concerned, the Swiss National Bank decided in June 2021 to make the acceptance of such payments mandatory for financial institutions (see SNB media conference). As of 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 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:
These and many other 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, including and especially the financial institutions involved.
The difference between conventional transfers and instant payments is significant. With a common transfer within Switzerland, there is a delay before the funds are credited to the recipient’s account. It may take a couple of hours, a day or even longer, depending on whether they start their journey during the day, at night, during the week or at the weekend, on a workday or on a public holiday.
New players in payment traffic often use solutions that resemble instant payments. These solutions may match the definition of instant payments, but they do not have to. Immediate notification by SMS to the paying party following a payment does not necessarily mean that the payment has already been fully processed.
The issue lies in the difference between clearing and settlement. Clearing means that the payee’s bank has accepted the transaction and agreed to process it. Settlement is a harder currency, meaning that the transaction has actually been settled between the banks involved. The payee has access to the funds, and there is no counterparty risk of any kind.
Together with the Swiss National Bank, SIX is developing the new infrastructure for processing instant payments. This will be technically available in November 2023, after which the onboarding of banks will take place.
Receipt of instant payments will become mandatory for Swiss financial institutions in two phases:
The roadmap is in place: By late summer 2024, at least 50 banks, which together cover around 98% of customer payments in Switzerland, will be able to receive instant payments and process them in seconds.
Project manager Tom Hildebrandt reported on the current status of the project to implement the IP service in Switzerland at the Swiss Banking Services Forum on 7 September 2022 (Recording in German).
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.
Today, around 2,300 banks and payment service providers in 29 European countries are capable of processing instant payments, which equates to 62% of all institutions – albeit with significant differences between the individual countries (source: European Payments Council).
The proportion of instant payments, or more precisely, of SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) payments in relation to all conventional transfers (SCT) is just under 16%, and the trend is upwards. Nevertheless, instant payments have not yet become established as standard. They are still far from being the new normal. There are exceptions: The Netherlands, for example, is a pioneer. Since the EU legislators have not yet issued a binding directive, participation in SCT Inst is voluntary for banks.
In addition to the voluntary nature of participation, there are other reasons holding back the final breakthrough. To be able to carry out instant payments, both the payer’s and the payee’s bank must participate in SCT Inst, otherwise it will not work. The fees charged for instant payments are also still very high at present. Depending on the bank and the package used, a payment of this kind costs between zero and two euros. High prices do not, however, encourage people to use instant payments – customers also expect the same conditions as those offered by neobanks and big techs: no additional costs for the new normal. The same prices and mandatory accessibility is also the object of a proposal by the European Commission.
As an innovative financial center, Switzerland has ground to make up with instant payments and cannot allow itself to be overtaken or outpaced by other countries. There should also be a level playing field for all participants in payment transactions. The pressure from big techs and neobanks will have an even greater impact in the future. For financial institutions, payment transactions are the most frequent point of contact to their customers – an advantage that should be preserved.
The Swiss National Bank therefore wants to do all that is needed for instant payment to become the new normal in Switzerland too. This will require, firstly, the expansion of the technical infrastructure and, secondly, the participation of the banks in the new process.
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 the new instant payment service.
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.
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 Italiann. 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.
The text modules provide templates that can be used in customer communications as needed.
Even if it might feel different for consumers, instant payment has yet to be introduced in Switzerland. Seen, purchased, paid for – read on to find out when payments in Switzerland will be as simultaneous as this triad of consumerism already sounds today.