Polish society is open to new digital payment solutions and willingly uses them daily. The pool of innovative solutions is expanded now by the service of instant transfers in EUR, compliant with the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme – Euro Express Elixir, made available by KIR. Santander Bank in Poland was the first to implement the pilot service.
Polish consumers particularly appreciate all the benefits of instant payments. Speed, mobility, 24/7 access to the service, and security are just some of them.
The Bank`s customers can already receive instant transfers in EUR. Santander Bank Polska is working on making instant outgoing transfers in EUR available – primarily for corporate customers using the One Trade Portal service.
“We want to provide our customers with the widest possible portfolio of services that make their everyday life or running a business easier. Euro Express Elixir is another novelty in our offer that supports digital everyday life and speeds up financial processes. We are introducing the services of instant transfers in EUR in cooperation with KIR in phases – currently, customers can use incoming transfers. We are working on making outgoing transfers available. We hope the excellent payment offer will be our Bank’s distinguishing feature,” – comments Agata Nowakowska, Director in the Payments Area at Santander Bank Polska.
365 days a year, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day – from now on also in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)
The new solution by KIR operates based on communication with the TIPS (TARGET Instant Payment Settlement) system launched by the European Central Bank and enables settlements under the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme.
The biggest advantage of Euro Express Elixir is the fact that transfers in EUR are made immediately, and the service operates throughout the year, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. In addition, no additional steps or agreements are required to use instant transfers in EUR.
“The new solution by KIR confirms Poland’s strong position in the European payments ecosystem. While working on the implementation of instant transfers in EUR, we had in mind the current trends of the European financial market, and the expectations of our key partners, which for years include Santander Bank Polska. KIR once again introduces a product that meets the current needs of today’s consumers and entrepreneurs who are increasingly used to instantaneous digital services, which also applies to payments. In the implementation of the Euro Express Elixir project, we have combined our previous experience in handling payments in EUR with knowledge about the functioning of instant payments in PLN,” – emphasizes Piotr Alicki, President of the Management Board at KIR.
Euro Express Elixir implements the functionalities provided for in the SCT Inst scheme to ensure compliance with the requirements of the European Payments Council (operator of the SCT Inst scheme), interoperability of the solution, and pan-European coverage. The maximum value of a single transfer is determined by the Bank, however, according to the SCT Inst scheme, it cannot exceed the limit of EUR 100,000. The execution of the transfer is assumed to take up to 10 seconds by default. The amount of the fee paid by the customer for the execution of the transfer is specified by each participant bank in its table of fees and commissions. KIR does not collect fees directly from end customers.
This new solution is an equivalent of the Express Elixir system, which has been operating for 11 years and supports instant transfers in PLN. Only last year, through Express Elixir, KIR settled 227.56 million transactions for the amount of PLN 147.31 billion (approx. EUR 33 billion).
Source: the Bank`s press release dated August 08, 2023
