Banking Circle, the Payments Bank for the digital economy, has chosen SIA, an established European hi-tech firm in payment services and infrastructures, controlled by CDP Equity, in order to introduce its instant payments service in Europe “connecting to the TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) service of the Eurosystem.”
As stated in the announcement:
“Thanks to SIAnet, the ultra-fast fiber optic network infrastructure, Banking Circle enables European financial institutions and corporates to execute instant payments in less than 10 seconds with a maximum amount currently set at 100,000 euros per individual transaction, 24/7, all year long, in line with the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme of the European Payments Council (EPC).”
The partnership with SIA will also enable Banking Circle clients to take advantage of the concession granted by the European Central Bank to SIA and Colt as Network Service Providers for ESMIG (Eurosystem Single Market Infrastructure Gateway).
The announcement further noted:
“Beyond TIPS, SIAnet enables all the key organizations in the European financial system to access also the platform for the settlement of large-value payments TARGET2, the securities settlement platform TARGET2-Securities (T2S), the Eurosystem Collateral Management System (ECMS), and possibly other new services and applications.”
The high-speed, secure and low-latency network infrastructure SIAnet is developed to address the requirements of instant payments “in terms of security, reliability and performance and it represents a single access channel to the main national and international payment platforms, also including EBA Clearing’s pan-European real-time payment system RT1.”
Michael Boel, Head of Local Clearing, Banking Circle, remarked:
“Banking Circle is making cross border payments faster and more cost effective for Banks and Payments businesses, in turn enhancing the service they provide to their customers. Instant Payments is a crucial part of this and we are delighted that our partnership with SIA enables us to connect to the TIPS platform via our cloud solution.”
Michael added that they believe that being the first bank to use SIA’s network and Cloud integration options “sends a clear message that [they] are committed to getting as close as possible to central banks, Automated Clearing Houses and Clearing and Settlement Mechanisms.”
He further noted that through the partnership with SIA, Banking Circle will “deliver Instant Payments at the lowest cost possible and at the highest level of stability for our clients, and their customers.”
Cristina Astore, SIA’s Northwest Europe and DACH Region Sales Director, stated:
“Thanks to the perfect integration of our network with the major public cloud providers on the market, the new digital payment service was up and running in just a few months and is now available for all current and future Banking Circle customers.”
