4 July 2023
The pricing structure for the TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) platform will change on 1 January 2024.
The fee for each instant payment transaction will remain unchanged at €0.002, but that fee will be shared equally between the sending participant and the receiving participant in TIPS.
In addition, monthly maintenance fees will be introduced for payment service providers (PSPs) and automated clearing houses (ACHs) that are connected to the platform.
PSPs will be charged €800 per month for each dedicated cash account (DCA) held on the platform, plus €20 per month for each bank identifier code (BIC) that is authorised to settle instant payments in the DCA. One BIC will be included free of charge with each DCA, and the total number of chargeable BICs will be limited to 50 (i.e. PSPs will cease to be charged as of their 52nd BIC).
ACHs will be charged €3,000 per month for each ancillary system technical account (ASTA) in TIPS, plus €20 per month for each BIC that can settle instant payments in the ASTA (again, with a maximum of 50 chargeable BICs per ASTA).
Transactions that are settled internally by ACHs will be subject to a sliding scale whereby the fee per transaction falls as the number of transactions per month rises (see slide 8 of this document).
Some elements of the current pricing structure will remain unchanged. There will still be no fees for joining TIPS, and information services (reports and queries) will remain free of charge.
The changes to the pricing structure in TIPS ensure that the service operates on a cost recovery basis, without making a profit. At the same time, the pricing of TIPS aims to support the take up of instant payments in Europe.
TIPS is the Eurosystem’s instant settlement platform for electronic payments. It operates around the clock, every day of the year, allowing PSPs to settle payments within seconds in central bank money. PSPs can join TIPS in one of two ways: (i) as direct participants, by opening an account in TIPS; or (ii) as reachable parties, by entering into an agreement with a direct participant.