The European Central Bank has announced the launch of the new real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system and central liquidity management. The tool went live on 20 March 2023.

The new T2 wholesale payment system comprises an RTGS system and a central liquidity management tool. Migration to the new system was done between 17 and 20 March 2023. T2 has replaced TARGET2 as the new RTGS system for settling payments related to the Eurosystem’s monetary policy operations, as well as bank‑to‑bank and commercial transactions.

T2 versus TARGET2 TARGET2 processed payments worth EUR 2. 2 trillion per day on average. According to the ECB, the first day of T2 operations progressed without incidents despite a delayed closure, the root cause of which was identified and fixed.

The new RTGS system settled around 400,000 transactions, broadly in line with the average volume experienced before the migration. The software and the environment for the new system were delivered by the Banca d’Italia, the Banco de España, the Banque de France and the Deutsche Bundesbank – the four national central banks that act as service providers for TARGET services (T2, TARGET2-Securities, and TIPS). All Eurosystem central banks have supported their national communities throughout this project, and the successful launch reflects the commitment and efforts of all parties.

TARGET and its purpose ECB’s TARGET project was initiated in December 2017 the primary goal of improving cost efficiency and integrating TARGET services for the betterment of Europe's financial markets. The upgraded system is meant to ensure increased cyber resilience and optimises liquidity usage, allowing participants to manage and monitor liquidity in central bank funds across all TARGET services. To achieve harmonisation, the ISO 20022 message standard was adopted alongside a series of common components shared among TARGET services, resulting in additional savings for participants.

In preparation for the rollout of the new T2 wholesale payment system, technical adjustments were made to TARGET2-Securities in July 2022, bringing the consolidation project to a close. According to the official statement, T2 is part of the Eurosystem’s continued efforts to modernise market infrastructure, ensuring that it meets the needs and expectations of market participants, and further improving the efficiency of Europe’s financial markets. .