Cross border instant payments
Cross-border instant payments transfer money between countries so that the recipient can use it within seconds. Euro transfers between participating SEPA accounts can use the same instant payment framework as a domestic transfer. Payments involving different currencies also need arrangements for currency conversion and settlement between the participating systems.
Cross-border instant payments can make international payments more useful for businesses and people sending money abroad. Connecting domestic fast-payment systems allows participating banks and payment providers to offer faster transfers across supported corridors. The European Central Bank develops these connections through TIPS, with availability depending on the currencies, systems and providers involved.
What the ECB decided
In October 2024 the Governing Council of the ECB decided to link TIPS with fast payment systems abroad along three lines: a cross-currency settlement service in TIPS based on the European Payments Council OCT Inst scheme, joining the BIS network Project Nexus, and a bilateral link with India's Unified Payments Interface. The ECB names the G20 roadmap as the reason and notes that UPI handles almost 400 million transactions a day and that India is among the top ten recipients of euro area remittances.
TIPS cross-currency: euro, krona and krone
On 10 June 2026 the ECB, Sveriges Riksbank and Danmarks Nationalbank activated the TIPS cross-currency service. A payment from euro into Swedish krona or Danish krone is processed and settled at the same moment in central bank money in both currencies. Payment service providers in TIPS, TIPS-DKK or the RIX-INST service of the Riksbank can join. Whether a German company's krona payment arrives in seconds therefore depends on both banks taking part.
UPI, Nexus and Switzerland
On 20 November 2025 the Governing Council started the realization phase for the TIPS link with UPI, kept studying a connection to Nexus Global Payments, and noted that work on a link to the Swiss instant payment system had begun in September 2025. The Governing Council did not announce a date for go-live. Project Nexus connects domestic instant payment systems through one standard interface, so each system connects once and not once per corridor. A 2023 prototype linked test systems of the Eurosystem, Malaysia and Singapore, and in 2025 six Asian central banks founded Nexus Global Payments to run it, according to the BIS.
Where Swift fits
The banking industry has its own answer on the Swift side: gpi Instant hands the last leg of a cross-border payment to the domestic instant system of the beneficiary's country. The difference is the settlement: a TIPS link settles both currencies in central bank money at once, while a Swift payment still moves through correspondent accounts.
Upcoming payments events
Can I send an instant payment to another country?
In euro to a SEPA country, yes: banks in the euro area have to offer instant transfers and may not charge more for them than for a standard transfer. In another currency it depends on a link such as the TIPS cross-currency service for krona and krone, and on your bank taking part.
What is the TIPS cross-currency service?
TIPS cross-currency is a service of TARGET Instant Payment Settlement at the Eurosystem that settles a payment between TIPS accounts in different currencies at the same moment, in central bank money. TIPS cross-currency settlement started with the euro, the Swedish krona and the Danish krone.
When will instant payments to India work?
The ECB started the realization phase for the link between TIPS and UPI in November 2025, with legal and technical work running in parallel. The ECB has not announced a start date for this connection.
Cross-border instant payments and Finance Loop
Finance Loop is the meeting place in Germany for the people who build and run instant payments at banks, payment institutions and central bank projects. Finance Loop runs its own Frankfurt and Berlin formats on instant transfers and the digital euro, and is a partner of the Digital Euro Association, host of the Digital Euro Conference in Frankfurt.
Finance Loop is a professional network supporting the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.