Banking services provider LHV UK has joined the TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) to facilitate access to real-time Euro payments. According to the official press release, only around two-thirds of the EU’s payment service providers offer real-time payments despite the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) instant scheme being around since 2017.

In November 2018, the Eurosystem launched the TARGET Instant Payment Settlement system (TIPS), which enabled real-time money transfers in Euros around the clock even in countries where the functionality for instant Euro payments is lacking. Since October 2022, outbound and inbound TIPS payments are automatically enabled for all LHV UK’s direct clients, which means that any bank account holder in a Euro-denominated country is reachable. According to LHV UK, joining the scheme generated improvements in real-time Euro payments coverage in Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy with more than 90% of all outgoing Euro payments now happening in real-time.

According to the European Commission (EC), the EU average for credit transactions executed in real-time is 11%. In order to increase this figure, the EC has put forward a draft law that would force banks to offer SEPA instant payments in Euros at no extra cost. This scheme would process payments in a few seconds around the clock and is expected to improve economic efficiency and support innovation.

Representatives from LHV UK have revealed in the official press release that they stand by the EU’s proposal to make instant Euro payments mandatory throughout the block at a fair price. They also emphasised that the impact of real-time payments on consumers and businesses can be transformative. Other LHV partnerships in 2022 LHV is one of the founding members in instant EUR payments, and it offers banking services such as instant EUR and GBP payments, agency banking, virtual IBANs, safeguarding accounts, multicurrency accounts, and FX.

In August 2022, EQT-backed startup Single. Earth has partnered with LHV UK to gain access to real-time EUR payments. Through this partnership, LHV UK facilitated the sale of the startup’s MERIT tokens by providing access to its payment infrastructure and services.

With the MERIT token, small landowners can gain access to the nature-based services market that might have been previously out of reach. UK-based investment platform Lightyear has partnered with LHV to receive real-time EUR payments capabilities and other banking services. In addition to SEPA and SEPA Instant payments, LHV provides Lightyear with access to EUR safeguarding accounts, which separate client funds from the company’s funds.

LHV will also provide EU operational accounts designed to hold businesses’ operating funds, and payments in EEA currencies alongside virtual IBANs. .