Market-wide instant payments have launched in Switzerland, with 60 financial institutions now able to receive and process instant payments, covering more than 95% of Swiss retail payment transactions.
The launch takes the country a step closer to a cashless payments future.
Swiss instant payments went live on 20 August, meaning that individuals and companies can now initiate account-to-account transactions with immediate execution and final settlement “in seconds”.
The payment system is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Swiss National Bank and SIX Interbank Clearing expect that by the end of 2026 “at the latest”, all financial institutions active in retail payment transactions will be reachable.
Several institutions have already launched retail offerings that enable their customers to send instant payments, while further banks are expected to launch similar services in the coming months.
While traditional transfers will still be possible, the Swiss National Bank and SIX said they “anticipate that instant payments are likely to become established in Switzerland in the medium term and form the basis for further innovation in payment transactions”.
Among the benefits for individuals cited by the Swiss National Bank and SIX are shorter settlement chains, reduced risks and immediate availability of funds received.
For companies and commercial banks, the benefits of using instant payments are expanded opportunities for automating processes and linking with other services.
In January this year, the central bank and SIX laid the groundwork for instant payments, with the launch of SIC5, a new iteration of the central Swiss payment system that had the ability to process instant payments.
At the time, they expected around 70 financial institutions to connect to the IP service by the official launch on 20 August.
