Instant bank transfers from November 2018 in Belgium

Instant payments, with transfers paid in seconds, are set to appear in Belgium from November. The information is reported in Le Soir on Wednesday, which stresses that the service will not necessary be free for customers.

By November 2018, several major banks in Belgium will implement instant transfers. The current delay in the payment system flows from bank-to-bank transactions passing through a clearing house, to avoid fraud. However, the Centre for Exchange and Clearing has chosen to overcome the issue, by collaborating with the main Belgian banks.

To start with, the system will only affect domestic transactions, as no other eurozone country has the facility of instant transfers.

Speaking upon the subject, Rodolphe De Pierpont, the spokesman for Febelfin, the Belgian financial sector federation, explains, “In Belgium, we wish to be pioneers in the area.” He goes on, “By November 2018, several of Belgium’s major banks will be able to offer this service.”

Regarding the potential for the system to be available to customers for free, the federation observes, “It could be that the instant facility will be offered as part of a given package, with a charge imposed rather than free.”


The Brussels Times


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