Swiss SIC participants must receive instant payments

An instant payment is a credit transfer processed around the clock, with the money available to the recipient within seconds. In Switzerland such payments run through the Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) system of the Swiss National Bank (SNB). SNB rules for SIC (external site) require every participant that settles retail payments to be able to receive instant payments by November 2026 at the latest.

The obligation covers receiving only. The SNB does not oblige banks to offer their customers the sending of instant payments, as an SNB speech of April 2025 explains (external site).

SIC has two services: the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) service and the instant payments (IP) service, according to the SNB instruction sheet (external site). Participants that use the RTGS service to settle retail payments are also required to receive payments through the IP service.

As an example, a payment sent at 22:00 on a Sunday to an account at a participant reaches the recipient within seconds, instead of on the next business day. The IP service makes funds available in this way at any hour (SNB, SIC system (external site)).

Receiving at any hour also means holding liquidity at any hour. The SNB plans a Payment System Support Facility (PSSF) that provides liquidity against collateral through SIC 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (SNB PSSF page (external site)).

The obligation applies to SIC participants active in retail payments: banks, and fintech institutions that offer retail payment services, as the SNB speech of April 2025 describes (external site). Roles directly affected include:

• Payments Operations Analyst: incoming instant payments are credited and exceptions handled around the clock.
• Treasury Operations Analyst: the balance on the SNB sight deposit account covers payment flows outside business hours.
• Liquidity Risk Analyst: night and weekend liquidity needs from instant payments enter the liquidity measures.
• Cash Management Product Manager: account products reflect funds that arrive within seconds at any hour.

The obligation was phased in, with all SIC participants active in retail payments covered by the end of 2026, according to the SNB annual report 2023 (external site).

The instruction sheet (external site), updated on 27 February 2025, sets November 2026 at the latest. The site records 1 November 2026 as a confirmed date, and the status as in force.

The PSSF is scheduled to go live with the SIC annual release in November 2027, replacing the intraday facility, while the liquidity-shortage financing facility continues alongside it for a transition phase (SNB PSSF page (external site)).

SIC is the Swiss real-time gross settlement system, in which each payment settles individually in central bank money on participants' sight deposit accounts at the SNB (SNB, SIC system (external site)).

The IP service was added to SIC next to the RTGS service. The SNB speech of April 2025 (external site) describes receipt as mandatory for banks and fintech institutions offering retail payment services from the end of 2026.