The EIPIF is a key building block enabling all stakeholders -banks, instant payment service providers, clearing and settlement providers, central banks- to build and launch interoperable instant payment services in Euros, ensuring pan-European end to-end reach.

The commitment to create the EIPIF was undertaken by its members in 2015 and the importance of this initiative was further highlighted with the ECB request for publication in November 2016. EACHA had previously published an Instant Payments Interoperability Study in January 2015 and SCTinst Interoperability Guidelines in November 2015. The group further delivered to the Eurosystem, in March 2016, a set of business requirements that ensure and enable risk management, clearing and settlement and interoperability of SCTinstant Payments.

The EIPIF has benefited greatly from EACHA’s earlier experience of creating an interoperability Framework for the launch of the SEPA Schemes in 2008, and from practical knowledge and operational experience gained by several EACHA members operating live Instant Payment services (UK, Denmark, Sweden and Poland).

Several banking communities in the Eurozone have launched or announced Instant Payments projects in the past 12 months, and the ACHs involved have expressed their willingness to implement interoperability with other communities, which the EIPIF provides technical basis for. In addition, the ECB has announced a new supporting functionality in its “ASI6 Real Time” interface for CSMs which will support the interoperability based on the EIPIF model from November 2017 onwards. With these building blocks in place, significant European reach for Instant Payments in Euros can be achieved from the start and extended gradually as and when more communities launch similar Instant Payment schemes.

As an Association, EACHA represents the common interest and common views of its members and does not have an operational role. The EIPIF is published as a contribution to the industry, providing guidelines to facilitate inter-ACH interoperability in a multi-CSM market. The implementation of technical and business interoperability remains a decision of the individual ACHs wishing to enter into a bilateral or multilateral agreement.

EACHA participates actively in the industry dialogue on Instant Payments in Euros
The “EACHA Instant Payments Interoperability Framework”, fully aligned with the “SCT Inst Rulebook”, provides the full set of standards to deliver interoperability for Instant Payments in Euros.

The scheme alignment is ensured via participation in the two EPC-taskforces which have developed the SCTinst Rulebook, thus contributing knowledge and experience of the clearing and settlement processes to the “Instant Payments Taskforce”, and the “SCT-Inst Rulebook Development Task Force”.