The agreement covers clearing of account-to-account payments completed through the Express clearing and Intraday clearing systems in Denmark.

The Express clearing system handles instant account-to-account based payments and the Intraday clearing system is primarily used for mass payments such as payroll disbursements, where clearing is done continuously during the day.

The agreement between Finance Denmark, representing all Danish banks, and Nets runs until the end of 2022.

Since launch of the Express clearing system in 2014, the Danes have had the opportunity to initiate instant account-to-account payments, with full reach from day one, as all Danish banks participate. The Danish banks have made a wide range of user-friendly applications available to consumers as well as corporates, including mobile payment applications, which have contributed significantly to the impressive uptake of instant payments in Denmark. Nets does not see any indications that the this will slow down.

"We are very pleased that we are the Danish banking communities preferred vendor when it comes to the development and operation of mission critical payments systems in Denmark. It provides us with the opportunity to contribute towards the cashless society and the expectations of the Danes for instant services in a secure and stabile eco-system," says Torben Hohlmann, SVP in Nets and head of Clearing Services. "Being responsible for running the systems that handle domestic payments is one of our key business areas and an area, where we are known globally for quality and security. In addition, we are proud, that Italian clearinghouse ICBPI has chosen us to supply them with an instant payments system as well as considerable interest from other European banking communities. Our clearing business is expanding rapidly in line with market developments," continues Torben Hohlmann.

Instant payments have been instrumental in reducing cash payments and checks in Denmark. The instant payment solution, RealTime24/7, is based on the global ISO 20022 payment standard, which also is the basis for the new European instant payments scheme, going live later this year.

Nets' solution has a modular build and is designed to handle a wide range of message types other than payment transactions e.g. payment requests and e-invoices.