(23 August 2024 – Switzerland) Instant payments were launched in the Swiss market on 20 August 2024 with 60 financial institutions now able to receive and process instant payments, covering more than 95 percent of Swiss retail payment transactions.
By the end of 2026 at the latest, all financial institutions active in retail payment transactions will be reachable. The first institutions have already launched retail offerings enabling customers to send instant payments. In the coming months, further banks will announce similar services.
Instant payments have been available in the EU since 2017 for immediate account-to-account transactions. In Q1 2024, the European Central Bank (ECB) adopted new regulations in a drive to guarantee euro money transfers arrive in bank accounts “within ten seconds” throughout the EU.
According to a recent SNB survey, Switzerland remains closely tied to physical cash. The Swiss central bank views this market launch as a significant milestone and a reflection of the “collective stakeholder commitment to the future of cashless payments in Switzerland”.