Bank of Estonia: Interbank Credit Transfer Must Speed Up
The Bank of Estonia has said that credit transfer can and must be made faster.
"Banks should continue working on it. There are a number of countries in Europe where faster and even real-time solutions have been implemented," Madis Müller, deputy governor of the Bank of Estonia, told Delfi.
The time it takes to transfer money from one bank to another has increased from about one and a half to five hours since Estonia joined the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) initiative in February 2014.
The Estonian Banking Association said that the negotiations for a faster clearing system are already underway but any improvements are unlikely before autumn 2016.
At present, the association advises customers to use the fast-track payment scheme that most banks offer, but this can set one back as much as 50 euros.