The Riksbank has issued a call for expression of interest for Swedish banks to take part in the design discussions and testing of the Target Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) cross-currency service, a joint initiative with the European Central Bank and Danmarks Nationalbank to enable instant cross-currency payments in central bank money. The initial scope is intended to support instant payments between euros, Swedish kronor and Danish kroner, with banks and businesses expected to build customer-facing services on top of the underlying central bank infrastructure. Participation is open to eligible market participants in TIPS EUR and RIX-INST and, for those planning to join, TIPS DKK, subject to access criteria and a technical connection to the TIPS user test environment. Signatories can indicate intended roles in testing (including originator, exit-leg, entry-leg and beneficiary payment service provider roles) and join testing of the Enhanced Linked Transaction settlement model, where the foreign exchange rate is agreed bilaterally outside the settlement systems and the two currency legs are settled conditionally on an “all or nothing” basis. The call sets out a first testing campaign scheduled for July to September 2025 ahead of a planned technical deployment of the cross-currency functionality in October 2025, followed by a second testing campaign in November to December 2025, noting that participants are not required to offer the service at technical go-live and that business go-live would be agreed bilaterally with each participant. Banks must submit a signed Letter of Intent by 28 February 2025, and the central banks plan introductory calls and further discussions with signed-up participants, with initial discussions foreseen in the first half of 2025. The material also notes that Norges Bank plans to join TIPS in 2028, which could open the possibility of Norwegian krone support, and that the European Central Bank is exploring links between TIPS and other international instant payment systems to enable cross-currency payments beyond Europe.
Riksbank 2025-01-17
Sweden's Riksbank invites banks to sign up by 28 February 2025 for TIPS cross-currency instant payments testing ahead of October 2025 technical go-live
The Riksbank, European Central Bank, and Danmarks Nationalbank invite Swedish banks to help design and test the Target Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) cross-currency service. This aims to enable instant payments between euros, Swedish kronor, and Danish kroner, with banks developing customer-facing services on central bank infrastructure. Eligible market participants can join, with testing in 2025 and technical deployment in October 2025.