Finastra completes new SIC instant payments readiness project

By Gloria Methri

Finastra has announced the completion of a Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) instant payments readiness project. Using Finastra’s cloud-based Service Bureau offering, Swiss banks can seamlessly transition to facilitating instant interbank payments.

It is expected that the 50 largest banks will be able to facilitate instant interbank payments in Switzerland and Liechtenstein by August this year. All active participants in the Swiss customer payment transactions system via SIC will be capable of processing incoming customer payments instantaneously by the end of 2026.

Finastra’s 24/7 instant payment service, already being used by several banks, includes real-time sanctions screening, with transactions processed in seconds. Finastra will continually evolve the service, allowing banks to respond quickly to changing customer, industry and regulatory demands.

“Finastra is helping banks implement instant payments most seamlessly and cost-effectively using the latest technologies to deliver robust sanctions screening and fraud prevention,” said Andreas Helbling, Country Head of Switzerland, Financial Messaging Marketplaces at Finastra. “Facilitating connectivity to SIC Instant Payments, and any critical payments infrastructure of this kind, reflects our commitment to supporting banks on their broader payment modernization journey – helping them to work in a more agile way and deliver value-added services to customers.”

Gareth Lodge, Principal Analyst at Celent, said, “Banks have a big job on their hands when it comes to ensuring they are ready for the various instant payment deadlines, including SIC. They need technology that enables a speedy transition and ensures that they can still deliver seamless experiences and enhanced services to customers.”

SIC5 was developed by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and SIX. It is based on the ISO 20022 messaging standard, which Switzerland has been using for several years. The standard helps facilitate interoperability and cross-border transactions and gives Swiss banks the opportunity to implement international payment capabilities in the future.