Admission

The Instant Payments Regulation (IPR), i.e. Regulation (EU) 2024/886, entered into force on 8 April 2024. Consequently, for credit institutions in the Eurozone, the deadline for being able to receive instant payments is 9 January 2025 (nine months after the entry into force of the IPR).

Joining Window 3 for RT1 is scheduled to go live on 10 December 2024 (see also the other applicable milestones for Window 3 below). In light of the above-mentioned IPR deadline, a Window 3 contingency go-live has been scheduled for 9 January 2025. This date will allow new joiners that would not be ready to go live on 10 December 2024 to still go live in time for the 9 January 2025 IPR deadline.

Because of the annual year-end freeze period, there will be no possibility for joining institutions to go live between 10 December 2024 and 9 January 2025. We strongly encourage joining institutions to follow the regular Window 3 schedule, if possible.

Kindly consult this webpage and our dedicated user communication channels for any further updates.  

Please note that the RT1 Joining Windows for 2025 will be made available on the present webpage as soon as possible.

If you would like to join RT1, please contact us via our contact form with your preference for one of the proposed joining windows. We will guide you through the whole joining process.

Download the RT1 live 2024 provisioning calendar

Change dates for the RT1 System are set by the below conditions:

• one change date per week (Tuesday)
• legal and administrative documents to meet a change date is that of two weeks prior to the given date.
• It shall not fall during the frozen period between the second week of December and the second week of January.

In order to fulfil the criteria for admission to and continued participation in the RT1 System, a participant must:

• be authorised to act as a credit institution
• have TARGET2/TIPS access:
  • have a direct participant status in TARGET2 and hold and have access to a TIPS dedicated cash account (DCA), or (b) have a liquidity provider that has the status of a direct participant in TARGET2 and holds and has access to a TIPS DCA
• be able to comply with the technical and operational requirements of the RT1 System, including requirements aiming at ensuring availability of the RT1 Participant during the operational times of the system
• have its registered office in a Member State of the EU, the EEA or the OECD, or a country or territory which is part of SEPA
• participate in the system via its registered office or a branch located in the geographical area of SEPA
• provide a capacity opinion with respect to its participation in the RT1 System
• adhere to the SCT Inst Scheme Rulebook of the European Payments Council

The occurrence of a suspension or exclusion event and the consequences thereof for the suspended / excluded participant and for the other participants are determined solely in accordance with the RT1 Rules. The systems’ rules are proprietary and confidential, and are available to all participants, to prospective participants that have applied for becoming a participant, and to relevant authorities including in particular the European Central Bank / Eurosystem as overseer of RT1.

Operational defaults will be addressed in first instance through the activation of incident handling and, as applicable, crisis management arrangements.

A participant can be prevented by the System Operator from continuing to participate in the system if certain events occur.

Events that may give rise to exclusion comprise in particular:

• termination of access to TARGET2/TIPS
• loss of license to act as a credit institution
• insolvency or comparable situations (unless an exclusion or suspension would contravene legislation implementing the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) or equivalent third country legislation)
• a suspension event that has not been remedied within 30 calendar days

The criteria for participation in the RT1 System consist of necessary legal, technical and operational requirements to enable the processing of SCT Inst transactions, as well as funding and withdrawal of funds operations in TIPS.

A participant may be suspended if non-compliance with the ongoing criteria for participation cannot be otherwise mitigated, e.g. in the case of relocation outside SEPA.

A participant can withdraw from the RT1 System by giving written notice of termination at least five TARGET2 business days prior to the withdrawal.

For information on the RT1 pricing, please click here.