What is Switzerland's new instant payment system and how will it work?

From August 20, 2024, Switzerland will launch a new system called instant payments, which will allow people to make money transfers in a matter of seconds. Here’s an overview of what the new payment system is, how it will work, and what it means for consumers in Switzerland. 

What are instant payments? 

Instant payments, also known as real-time transfers or the SIC5 system, are money transfers that arrive in the recipient’s bank account within 10 seconds of being sent. Rather than following traditional bank opening hours (and therefore being out of operation on evenings, weekends and public holidays), instant payments can be used 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so long as both the sender’s bank and the recipient’s bank support instant payments. 

Instant payments will therefore take on popular app Twint as a quick and easy way to make payments. It will be useful for people who don’t have the app or can’t use it at the moment they need to make a payment. 

How are instant payments different from normal bank transfers?

Speed is the main factor that sets instant payments apart from regular bank transfers. Currently, it can take anything from several hours up to several days for a wire transfer to reach the recipient’s bank account - and even longer for foreign bank accounts. This is because banks typically collect transfers into a digital batch and then process them on the next working day. 

Up until November last year, transfers between Swiss banks could only be processed on weekdays between 7pm and 5pm. However, the new SIC5 system, which has been in operation since November 17, 2023, enables Swiss banks to process transfers around the clock, including on weekends and public holidays. Even payments to foreign bank accounts will be made in just a few seconds. 

This will bring Switzerland in line with other countries in the European Union, where around 63 percent of banks currently process instant payments through the SEPA system. The Council of the European Union recently adopted a regulation to mandate that payment service providers must offer the option of receiving instant payments by January 9, 2025, and sending instant payments by October 9, 2025. 

How can I use instant payments? 

Instant payments will be useful in several different situations in Switzerland, including: 

• Online shopping, as an alternative to paying by debit or credit card (the merchant pays lower fees)
• Sending money abroad
• Paying tradespeople or service providers directly, without the need for a payment terminal
• Emergencies, for instance if a friend or member of your family urgently needs money

When will instant payments be available in Switzerland? 

Swiss financial institutions will soon be obliged to accept incoming instant payments. This will happen in two phases:

• From August 2024 for larger banks
• By the end of 2026 for smaller banks that process fewer than 500.000 payments per year

Which Swiss banks are offering instant payments?

The plan is that by late summer 2024, 60 banks in Switzerland (which together cover more than 95 percent of customer payments in Switzerland) will be set up to receive incoming instant payments. 

However, just because your bank can process an incoming instant payment does not mean that you will be immediately able to send an outgoing instant payment. So far, according to moneyland.ch, only the following banks have confirmed that they will be offering outgoing instant payments to customers from August 20, 2024: 

• Bern Cantonal Bank
• Hypothekarbank Lenzburg
• Raiffeisen
• St. Gallen Cantonal Bank
• UBS

These banks have said they will introduce outgoing instant payments at a later date: 

• Aargau Cantonal Bank
• BSU Bank 
• Bank Cler
• Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank
• Basel Cantonal Bank
• LLB
• Luzerner Kantonalbank
• MigrosBank
• Postfinance
• Swissquote
• Thurgau Cantonal Bank
• Valiant
• Zak
• Zürcher Kantonalbank

Do instant payments cost money?

According to moneyland.ch, receiving an incoming instant payment will be free, but most banks will charge fees for sending instant payments. For instance, UBS has said that it will be charging customers up to 5,30 francs per outgoing instant payment, while Raiffeisen will charge between 50 cents and 2 francs per transaction, depending on what kind of account you have. If in doubt, it’s best to check with your bank to make sure. 

Since all transactions on Twint are free of charge, it remains to be seen how quickly the new instant payments system will catch on in Switzerland for day-to-day transactions.