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The Eurosystem is pursuing a new strategy to respond to the rapid digitalisation of the eurozone's payments market, partly in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Fabio Panetta, of the European Central Bank's executive board, said the strategy would increase the provision of cash and instant payments. It would also include new supervisory methods and work on the digital euro. He said that European authorities must ensure that digital payments are underpinned by a competitive and innovative market capable of meeting consumer demand, while preserving European sovereignty. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2020/html/ecb.sp201022~d66111be97.en.html

The Central Bank of Saudi Arabia (SAMA) launched its new instant payments system on February 21, after the successful completion of the pilot with a number of Saudi banks. The system will enable financial institutions, companies and individuals to complete transfers 24/7 between different banks instantly.

The FedNow project leader speaks about Covid-19 payment behaviours, a new liquidity management tool and what it will take to achieve ubiquitous instant payments in the US.

"The ECB's Governing Council has taken significant steps to support the full deployment of instant payments across the euro area, in line with objectives shared with the European Commission. Pan-European instant payments can be ensured by the end of 2021. All Payment Service Providers (PSPs) which have adhered to the SCT Inst scheme and are reachable in TARGET2 should also become reachable in a TIPS central bank money liquidity account, either as a participant or as reachable party (i.e. through the account of another PSP which is a participant). At the same time, all Automated Clearing Houses (ACHs) offering instant payment services should migrate their technical accounts from TARGET2 to TIPS. The Eurosystem will discuss with ACHs and PSPs whether a migration window is needed for this purpose. The ultimate goal is to enable European citizens to make electronic payments in euro from and to any country in real time, both in physical shops and online."

The U.S. Fed announced the core features of its new FedNow end-to-end 24/7 fast payments service, set to go live in 2023 or 2024. It is seen as "a catalyst for innovation in the market by providing a neutral platform on which the private sector can build to offer safe, efficient instant payment services to users across the country." It will operate alongside the private-sector Clearing House RTP instant payment service.

Banco Central do Brasil unveiled the general framework and updated rules for the country's instant payment system PIX, which will be launched gradually from November 16. From October 5, those interested in joining the system will be able to register the so-called PIX Keys, which will identify the payer and payee. To use the central bank's platform, users will need an email address, phone number or taxpayer ID. There will be three ways to complete the transfer: by entering the recipient's data, by using a QR code or by using a payment link. The central bank will both regulate and provide the payment settlement infrastructure, including the database with data on the accounts of recipients. Participating financial institutions will pay 0.01 reais per transaction to use PIX, versus an average of 0.07 in the current TED system. The minimum capital required is 1 million reais. https://www.bcb.gov.br/detalhenoticia/475/noticia

According to a special chapter of the BIS Annual Economic Report, digital innovation is radically reshaping the provision of payment services, and central banks are embracing this innovation. They promote interoperability, support competition and innovation, and operate public infrastructures - all essential for easily accessible, low-cost and high-quality payment services. And central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can foster competition among private sector intermediaries, set high standards for safety and risk management, and serve as a basis for sound innovation in payments.

It looks like Banco Central de la República Argentina launched a retail QR code-based instant payments system although I don't see anything about P2P functionality.

The Central Bank of Iceland (CBI) has gone live with a new real-time gross settlement system (RTGS) and instant payment platform. Developed by Italy's SIA, the new payments infrastructure has been implemented as a single platform capable of processing bank-to-bank, P2P, P2B and B2B transactions in a consolidated operating model. https://www.cb.is/publications/news/news/2020/10/19/New-interbank-payment-system-launched-at-the-end-of-the-week/

Dr Jens Weidmann, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank: "The Eurosystem has not yet decided whether to introduce a digital euro or not. And even if we were to opt for CBDC, its careful introduction would be an immense logistical and technical endeavour and, therefore, would be bound to take time... Some important issues... still require further analysis. Athorough understanding of the effects and trade-offs of CBDC is imperative for us before we can weigh up the arguments and draw firm conclusions."

The linking of Singapore's PayNow and Thailand's PromptPay national fast payments systems will go live in mid-2021. Anyone registered with PayNow or PromptPay will be able to instantly and securely send money between the two countries using just their mobile numbers 24/7 at "competitive" rates. It will start off with a small group of banks on both sides, and scale up participation to include more banks and non-bank providers over time. The Monetary Authority of Singapore is keen to partner other central banks in the region to expand the linkage. https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/speeches/2020/fintech-for-an-inclusive-society-and-a-sustainable-planet

The European Central Bank (ECB) will investigate whether and how TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) could support payment transactions across different currencies. The investigation will begin as of October 2020 in collaboration with Sveriges Riksbank.. TIPS is a service that settles payments in central bank money in real time and around the clock. It currently supports the settlement of instant payments in euro, but also has the functional capability to support other currencies. TIPS will start to settle instant payments in Swedish kronor as of May 2022. The ECB and Sveriges Riksbank will explore possible ways of enabling the TIPS platform to process cross-currency instant payments between euro and Swedish kronor.

Early Warning Services, LLC. (EWS), the owner and operator of the Zelle Network, and The Clearing House (TCH), the operator of the RTP network, today announced that financial institutions (FIs) can now settle Zelle payments over the RTP network, the real-time payment system in the United States. PNC Bank and U.S. Bank have successfully completed a pilot of the integration, transmitting money using Zelle over the RTP network. Additional FIs will integrate the two networks and start testing later this year.

Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey will launch a pilot of a new retail payment system on December 18, 2020. The Instant and Continuous Transfer of Funds (FAST) system will allow fund holders to transfer money between their accounts at different banks within seconds on a 24/7 basis. The Easy Addressing System, which facilitates payments by using information like phone or ID numbers and e-mail addresses, will also be made available to all fund holders. https://www.tcmb.gov.tr/wps/wcm/connect/EN/TCMB+EN/Main+Menu/Announcements/Press+Releases/2020/ANO2020-67

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Bank Negara Malaysia announced plans to commence a phased linkage of Singapore's PayNow and Malaysia's DuitNow instant payment systems. Customers will also be able to make retail payments by scanning QR codes displayed at merchants' storefronts. The first phase, to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2022, will allow customers of participating financial institutions to make real-time fund transfers between Singapore and Malaysia using just a mobile number. In June, the MAS and the Reserve Bank of India announced plans to link PayNow and India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) real-time payment systems by July 2022.

"Hong Kong's Faster Payment System (FPS) has surpassed 700,000 transactions a day just over three years after its debut, showcasing one of the ways the city is seeking to innovate as a financial technology hub, according to Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po."

"The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures has issued a report on Fast payments. So-called fast payment services make funds immediately available to the payee and can be used around-the-clock, on a 24/7 basis. As such, they overcome the limitations of traditional retail payment services, namely that usually the funds reach the beneficiary one or more days after the funds are debited in the payer's account, and that these can be initiated only in certain places at certain times."

The Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten, working with Worldline and the local commercial banks, has implemented the basic infrastructure for dual currency instant payments. As of January 15, 2022, all US dollar and Netherlands Antillean guilder interbank payments in and between Curaçao and Sint Maarten and in Bonaire will be processed 24/7 within ten seconds.

The BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) published a review of recent developments in retail fast payment systems (FPS). It notes that FPS can have significant implications for the operations and services of real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems, including potential modifications to their access criteria and operating hours. The report also finds that FPS adoption rates are generally low in the early stages of implementation, but some recent ones have seen more rapid take-up. Also, FPS are increasingly settling obligations between banks and, where relevant, non-bank FPS participants on a gross (ie payment-by-payment) basis in real time, and most jurisdictions have either adopted or are moving towards ISO 20022 as the FPS messaging format.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has officially started onboarding pilot participants onto the FedNow Service, signaling that the initial testing phase of the FedNow Pilot Program is underway. The Federal Reserve Banks are developing the FedNow Service to facilitate nationwide reach of 24/7/365 instant payment services by financial institutions - regardless of size or geographic location. A few organizations have now successfully connected and delivered test messages over a pilot version of the FedNow Service, which remains on course to launch in 2023. In total, the FedNow Pilot Program now numbers more than 120 organizations, including Square Financial Services.