PostFinance notes in a recent update that the receipt of instant payments now possible.
No more waiting for your money: instant payments are here. PostFinance customers can “now receive money transfers in real time – 24/7, 365 days a year.”
According to a blog post by PostFinance, this has multiple benefits: compared “to conventional payments, money sent with instant payments is available more quickly, and your account balance is always up to date.”
PostFinance added that what’s more, interest is “credited earlier, because the value date is the same as the booking date. Since the order approval is linked to the receipt of payment, companies can start the production process earlier and manage liquidity better.”
The update further noted that the “receipt of instant payments is free of charge for PostFinance private customers and included in the basic service for companies.”
PostFinance plans to introduce the “Send” option in stages.
The schedule for instant payments is laid out by the Swiss National Bank. This stipulates that major banks such as PostFinance will “offer receipt of instant payments from 20 August 2024. All other banks will follow by the end of 2026.”
For the “Send” option, there are no specifications.
Sending is more complicated to implement: instant payments “have very high requirements with regard to security and performance.”
This means that PostFinance must first gain experience “with the new systems before the “Send” service can be introduced.”
PostFinance plans to phase in the option “to send instant payments from autumn 2024 onwards, specifically in those areas where customers benefit from significant added value.”
As explained in a blog post by PostFinance, instant payments are “transfers that are processed between financial institutions in Switzerland and Liechtenstein every day, 24/7 and within a few seconds.”
Unlike conventional transfers, which usually “take one business day and are restricted to fixed processing times, instant payments are transferred from one account to another within seconds.”