UniCredit has launched its cross-border instant payments solution in Italy and Germany.
The bank’s first payment was carried out on 21 November between Germany and Italy in 2.5 seconds, making it the first bank to provide faster payments in Germany.
The new solution is in line with the European Payments Council’s Single Euro Payments Area Instant Credit Transfer scheme, originally initiated by the European Central Bank.
Although inbound payments in Germany and Italy are now live, outbound payment execution will not be active until 27 November 2017 and 22 February 2018, respectively.
Gianfranco Bisagni, global co-head of corporate and investment banking at UniCredit, said: “After a very focused development and implementation process, the official launch today is a proud moment for us.”
Bisagni added: “We have always aimed to lead the way on developing instant payments solution for our clients and we are excited about the benefits this new service will bring to our clients – promoting speed and transparency through 24-hour, 365-days-a-year coverage and real-time notifications of successful payments.”
