Worldline and Commerzbank expand instant payments to Switzerland

By Gloria Methri

Worldline, a global leader in payment services, is further expanding its partnership with Commerzbank. This extension enables Commerzbank to offer its customers in Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom the sending and receiving of real-time transfers in euros.

It is also possible to process instant payments in Switzerland in Swiss francs. Instant payments are processed via the scalable Payments Back-Office processing platform from Worldline that was previously integrated into Commerzbank’s banking systems.

The strategic trigger for the introduction of instant payments in Swiss francs is a decision by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) in June 2021, according to which the acceptance of such payments will become mandatory for financial institutions.

From August 2024, the largest Swiss banks, including Commerzbank due to its annual transaction volume of more than 500 million, must be able to process instant payments. In line with the forthcoming regulation on instant payments in the EU, the remaining Swiss banks will follow by 2026.

Alessandro Baroni, Head of Financial Services at Worldline, said, “We are delighted to expand our already extensive partnership with Commerzbank. With our international expertise and industry-leading solutions, we enable Commerzbank to offer instant payments in numerous European countries and also allow its Swiss customers to send and receive instant payments. This next step in our partnership showcases Worldline’s role as the ideal partner for banks worldwide.”

Sebastian Kauck, Divisional Board Member and CIO Corporate Clients at Commerzbank added, “The expansion of our existing business relationship with Worldline will help us to better support our Swiss customers and implement the upcoming requirements in the Swiss instant payment sector. The Swiss market is an important focus for Commerzbank. As we expand our offering across Europe, we are pleased to have Worldline as a reliable partner at our side.”

Worldline has a network-independent solution that is used as a SWIFT Service Bureau. Commerzbank will also use the existing solution to connect to the new SIC 5 system for Swiss Instant Payment Clearing.