Payment systems

On 6 December 2017 the Governing Council approved the T2-T2S Consolidation Project, the objective of which is to consolidate and optimise TARGET2 and TARGET2-Securities (T2S), decreasing costs and enhancing liquidity management across the various services. The result of the T2-T2S Consolidation Project is the new-generation Trans-European Automated Real Time Gross settlement Express Transfer system settling in euro in central bank money (TARGET).

From 20^th March 2023, TARGET2 will be replaced by TARGET, which will be legally structured as a multiplicity of payment systems, where all TARGET component systems are harmonised to the greatest extent possible.

TARGET will provide central liquidity management services, including the settlement of central bank operations, large value real-time gross settlement (RTGS) for payments, cash payments in relation to securities settlement and settlement of instant payments.