Instant payments
ING started introducing instant payments from 2019 onwards. As a pan-European bank, ING’s ambition is to offer Instant payments in all countries in which it has a local presence. Here you can find information on what instant payments are, what the advantages are, and when you can initiate or receive them.
Instant payments provides your organisation with several advantages:
- Improved cash flow
- Optimisation of cash management
- Send and receive funds outside business hours
- Immediate delivery and receipt of time-critical payments
- Improved supply chain
- Opportunities for innovation
- Improved control and oversight of financial cash management
The benefits
We live in a digital world of instant news and instant messages. Instant payments are a logical consequence of our 24/7 economy. Instant payments will be added to real-time payments and will give all clients the option of carrying out payments 24/7, 365 days a year.
Instant payments do not differentiate between business days, weekends or holidays for the processing of payment.*
* Please note that ING Belgium does not yet support booking 365 days a year, and for now still differentiates between processing payments on business days, weekends and holidays.
Participating banks
Instant payments are not yet mandatory for banks to participate in. As a result, you may encounter that you are not be able to send an instant payment to all beneficiaries. Transactions to those beneficiaries that hold their account at a bank that is not reachable for Instant Payments will be processed as a normal SEPA Credit Transfer (during opening hours).
Instant payments provide the following advantages:
- Improvement of cash flow and optimisation of cash management by monetising on an investment opportunity during the weekend.
- Improved credit risk management.
- Send and receive funds outside business hours, in the evening, nights, weekends and holidays for receipt of e-commerce transactions, invoices, retail transactions.
- Immediate and more transparent delivery and receipt of time-critical payments such as notary and tax payment and the payment of insurance claims.
- Improved supply chain thanks to direct delivery of goods based upon receipt of funds; direct salary payment after working day.
- Opportunities for innovation, such as new products or services thanks to automatic debiting of the client’s account for purchases.
- Improved control and oversight of financial cash management through centralisation of treasury activities (to remote) central location.
Potential impact on your business
Being able to send and receive instant payments in real-time at every moment of the day, 365 days a year, can have an impact on your business.
Interaction with your clients could also be affected by instant payments depending on the choices you make, such as having operational client support 24/7, changes in your supply chain management, or options for direct billing.
Payment and treasury systems
Accounts will be debited and credited 365 days a year.* This may affect the way you handle your cash management.
Liquidity forecasting and reconciliation will be impacted as your balance will shift during weekends and holidays, too.
Interest calculation
Interest calculation will be applicable on the day the account is debited or credited: book day = value date. ING will book on all calendar dates so that interest is applicable on all days.**
Reporting
ING will provide you the option of acquiring your reporting on all calendar days.** Your ERP system must be able to cope with reporting on weekends and holidays to enable you to process reporting files for each day of the week or three files in the correct order on Monday morning. We advise you to contact your ERP supplier for more information.
As the end of the day has shifted to 0:00 hours, your end of day statement will be delivered after day switch. The intraday statements (MT.942 and camt.052) will eventually be sent (near) real-time.**
In your statement, the incoming and outgoing Instant Payments will be reported separately (i.e. separate ING reporting code 00112 and ISO Family Code IRCT/RRCT). In your camt.05X report, a timestamp indicating the time of initiation (in milliseconds) will be added to the report.**
Cash Management
Cash Balancing
If you have a Domestic Cash Balancing or Cross-Border Cash Balancing pool the introduction of instant payments/365 day reporting may result that transactions and sweeps will be processed on the participating account and master account on weekend days. It could also be that balances will remain on your participating account during the weekend. However, these will be transferred on the next processing day in accordance with the original value day.
Virtual Bank Account (VBA)
If you have a Domestic Virtual Bank Account structure or Cross-Border Virtual Bank Account structure the introduction of instant payments/365 day reporting may result that transactions and sweeps will be processed on the VBA account and master account on weekend days.
For more information view our Instant Payments/365 day reporting and sweep processing per Cash Management Product.
Countries where instant payments are operational
From November 2017, banks in Europe are gradually adopting SEPA instant payments. ING Bank, as a pan-European player, has the ambition to offer instant payments in all network countries in which it has a local presence.
Belgium
Retail customers can send and receive SEPA instant payments (private individuals through Mobile & Home Bank, business clients through Business Bank and Telelink Online). Apart from the channel limit, domestic SEPA instant payments have no maximum amount per transaction.
The maximum amount for cross border SEPA instant payments is €100,000 per transaction.
Wholesale Banking clients currently can only receive SEPA instant payments.
SEPA instant payments are processed within a few seconds, 24/7/365 (transaction date = value date).
The Netherlands
Retail customers can send and receive SEPA instant payments. Apart from the channel limit, domestic SEPA instant payments have no maximum amount per transaction.
Wholesale Banking clients can receive SEPA instant payments. Sending domestic SEPA instant payments for Wholesale banking clients is available via InsideBusiness Payments (IBP) with a maximum amount of € 5,000,000 per transaction.
Also, for cross border SEPA instant payments, the maximum amount is €5,000,000 per transaction, assumed that the beneficiary bank indicated that it allows higher amounts. If not, the default limit of €100,000 per transaction is applicable.
SEPA instant payments are processed within a few seconds, 24/7/365 (book date = value date).
Luxembourg
Wholesale Banking clients currently can only receive SEPA instant payments. Instant Payment transactions towards EUR accounts at ING Luxembourg are limited to EUR 100.000.
SEPA instant payments are processed within a few seconds, 24/7/365 (transaction date = value date).
Spain
Retail customers and Wholesale Banking clients can receive SEPA instant payments, credited end-of-day for Wholesale Banking clients.
Portugal
Wholesale Banking clients currently can only receive SEPA instant payments. Instant Payment transactions towards EUR accounts at ING Luxembourg are limited to EUR 100.000.
SEPA instant payments are processed within a few seconds, 24/7/365 (transaction date = value date).
Germany
Wholesale Banking clients can receive SEPA instant payments. Sending SEPA instant payment for Wholesale banking clients is available via InsideBusiness Payments (IBP) with a maximum amount of € 5,000,000 per transaction, assumed that the beneficiary bank indicated that it allows higher amounts. If not, the default limit of €100,000 per transaction is applicable.
SEPA Instant payments are processed within 10 seconds, 24/7/365 (book date = value date).
Hungary
Wholesale Banking clients can send and receive domestic HUF instant payments (HCT Inst). HUF Instant Payments are processed within 10 seconds with a maximum amount of HUF 10m.
Italy
Wholesale Banking clients can receive SEPA instant payments.
SEPA Instant payments are processed within 10 seconds, 24/7/365 (book date = value date).
ING WB Italy will introduce the sending of SEPA instant payments in due course.
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