22/06/2017 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 22 June, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to develop a new instant payment settlement service for the Eurozone. The new system, the 'TARGET instant payment settlement' service (TIPS), will be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It will be developed in close cooperation with the European banking sector and will be made available to banks at a low price of up to 20 eurocent per payment for the first two years of operation. TIPS “will allow citizens and firms to make payments by their bank anywhere in the euro area within a matter of seconds and contribute to further enhance the euro area's integration”, the ECB states in a press release. The new service is expected to be up and running in November 2018. (MF)