Savings Banks – In Ten Seconds – Economy

Customers can transfer money almost daily in real time from this Tuesday. Extra service will incur additional charges. All banks do not participate yet. But other banks want to follow soon.

Suddenly, things go very fast: from July 10, savings bank clients can send their money in seconds. The money will be credited to the desired account in less than ten seconds of the customer's request instead of the same amount as before in one day

Most of the 385 savings banks will provide the service from this Tuesday. others will follow early next year. This achieves real-time nearly 40 million savings bank accounts. It's the largest financial group to date, which offers real-time transfers – also known as instant payouts – in Germany. Otherwise, only the Hypo-Vereinsbank (HVB) offers the service until now.

Until now, banks had the habit of collecting funds and processing them in batches. This applies to transfers at the bank counter as well as those made online. In the era of e-mails and WhatsApp messages, which fly over data lines in a few moments, the process seems to be increasingly outdated

. The European Central Bank has acknowledged and reacted by introducing instant payments. Since November 2017, there are standard European standards for the process: instant payments are possible up to an amount of 15,000 euros 24 hours a day, and such a transfer can not take more than ten seconds. Once the money has arrived, the sender and the recipient are informed.

For central bankers, fast shipments are supposed to serve two purposes: First, they are the answer to the rapid rise of digital competitors such as Paypal. Customers can already receive money for a long time in seconds. Real-time remittances should help banks limit competition. On the other hand, it is hoped that consumers could use the new procedure more than just money. It could be pushed back by the unpopular means of payment of the ECB

Up to now, there are only a few cases of use for private customers

However, until 39 now the process has been deliberate at best. Only 22 banks across Europe have come to offer real-time bank transfers. This of course limits the possible use for customers. Because for the money to be sent in real time, the sender and the recipient must offer the procedure. One of the reasons for the restricted departure is certainly that until now everything works on a voluntary basis. Therefore, there is no pressure on money houses to implement the requirements quickly.

After all, in Germany the situation is slowly changing. With the startup of savings banks, 40 million customers will be connected at one time. Deutsche Bank will follow suit in November and the Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks are planning to implement the necessary technology before the end of 2019 and launch it in 2019. However, the added power of many banks will probably not be a good free bonus for customers, they decide to do it. The service will cost you money. Kreissparkasse Köln accepts a maximum of 25 cents per transfer, Berliner Sparkasse costs 25 to 55 cents via bank transfer from private customers, and Sparkasse Leipzig charges 49 cents. HVB also supports, according to the account model, a fast money transfer.

Gerhard Bystricky, Head of Product Development in Payment Traffic with Unicredit in Germany, introduced real-time transfers with HVB last year. According to Bystricky, new remittances have great potential – especially for business customers, as they can quickly gain liquidity and develop new business models. "It makes a huge difference that the money is there immediately or the next business day or even later," he says. For private customers, there are only a few examples of application. The certainty that the transfer was actually and successfully, however, has a high value for many customers, says Bystricky, for example, in payments to the authorities. It is also possible to pay the new car by bank transfer instead of money.

But there is also an obstacle: if the money is transferred in seconds, a switch must be put in the business, which immediately unlocks the desired product. Such technology should first establish businesses.