The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has agreed to advance ongoing work to interlink the Eurosystem’s TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) service with fast payment systems worldwide.

This forms part of the Eurosystem’s broader efforts to facilitate more efficient cross-border payments for businesses and consumers in Europe, including remittances.

The decision follows positive findings from exploratory work launched in October 2024 to assess connections between TIPS and India’s Unified Payments Infrastructure (UPI), as well as Nexus Global Payments.

The Governing Council has now agreed to begin the realisation phase for interlinking TIPS with UPI, while completing the necessary legal arrangements and technical implementation in parallel.

It will also continue examining the feasibility of a potential connection to Nexus Global Payments, alongside the required legal steps and agreements.

In September 2025, the Governing Council also initiated work to evaluate the feasibility of linking TIPS with the Swiss Interbank Clearing Instant Payments system.

Interlinking TIPS with other fast payment systems supports the Eurosystem’s retail payments strategy and contributes to the G20 roadmap aimed at making cross-border payments faster, cheaper, and more transparent and inclusive.

It also aligns with efforts to strengthen the international role of the euro.

Over the longer term, the Eurosystem aims to extend this work to additional currency corridors.

Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by EyeEm via Freepik