Real time payments continue to hit the headlines. Just last week at the SWIFT Business Forum in New York Chris Church emphasised the continued demand from both businesses and consumers for real time payments. I have also been posting on the European journey in Immediate Payments not available anytime soon and Instant Payments in Europe. There is no shortage of news about upcoming real time payments systems and implementations, but at the same time there is very little information about the many existing real time payments. As Gareth Lodge indicated in a Celent report Real Time Payments: Dispelling the Myths real time payments are nothing new and are not limited to a handful of countries.
So the intention of this post is to share with you the list of countries that have already implemented a real time payments system, when the deployment happened and the name of the real time payments system:
- Country | Deployment Date | Operational hours | ISO20022 compliance | System Name
Real Time Payments Definition:
Definitions of real time payments vary – but broadly we can say that real time payments (1):
- Can be made 24/7/365 – not all systems operate at these levels, but process payments real time during specified times
- Will be completed instantaneously – i.e. within 1 minute
- Cannot be reversed
- Will be confirmed as either completed or rejected
Real Time Payments: Europe
- Switzerland – Implemented in 1987, operates 24/7, IS20022 planned for 2018, system name is SIC
- Turkey – Implemented in 1992, operates 0830-1730, utilises ISO20022, system name is TIC-RTGS
- United Kingdom – Implemented in 2008, operates 24/7, utilises IS8583, system name is Faster Payments
- Iceland – Implemented in 2000, operates 0900-1630, system name is Greiðsluveitan
- Poland – Implemented in 2012, operates 24/7, utilises IS20022, system name is Elixir Express
- Sweden – Implemented in 2012, operates 24/7, utilises IS20022, system name is BiR
- Denmark – Implemented in 2014, operates 24/7, utilises IS20022, system name is Nets
Real Time Payments: Central & Latin America
- Brazil – Implemented in 2002, operates 0730-1700, utilises IS20022, system name is SITRAF
- Mexico – Implemented in 2004, system name is SPEI
- Chile – Implemented in 2008, operates 24/7, system name is TEF
Real Time Payments: Africa
- South Africa – Implemented in 2006, operates 24/7, utilises IS8583, system name is RTC
- Nigeria – Implemented in 2011, operates 0800-1700, system name is NIP
Real Time Payments: Asia Pacific
- Japan – Implemented in 1973 (Wow!!!!), operates 0830-1640, utilises IS20022, system name is Zengin
- China – Implemented in 2010, operates 24/7, system name is IBPS
- Taiwan – Implemented in 2010, operates 24/7, system names is CIFS
- India – Implemented in 2010, operates 24/7, utilises IS8583, system name is IMPS
- Singapore – Implemented in 2014, operates 24/7, utilises IS20022, system name is FAST
- South Korea – Implemented in 2014, operates 24/7, utilises IS20022, system name is KFTC
There you have it, the list of countries that currently have a real time payments system. I will add to this list as new countries implement their own real time payments systems. In the meantime please let me know if I have missed a country, in the comments below, and I will add them…
Sources:
- Real Time Payments Systems in the United States
- Flavours of Fast
- (1) SWIFT Nordics Regional Conference – Next Stop Real Time Payments