Commerzbank has upgraded its real-time transfer services across various European markets via a partnership with Worldline.
The Swiss bank will allow its customers in Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK to send euros via the service, as well as enabling processing of real-time payments in Swiss francs.
In the case of the latter, the enabling of Swiss franc payments falls in line with a regulatory requirement due to a Swiss National Bank decision from June 2021. All Swiss banks with a transaction volume of more than 500 million must process instant payments from August 2024.
By enabling the franc payments, Commerzbank is making an early start in ensuring this requirement is met. The requirement has been designed to mirror forthcoming EU regulations, and needs to be initially met by the larger banks, but the remaining institutions will follow by 2026.
Sebastian Kauck, Divisional Board Member and CIO Corporate Clients at Commerzbank, said: “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.”
Renewing its partnership with Worldline marks Commerzbank’s second major payments agreement this month, following on from the announcement of a joint-venture with US-based Global Payments.
This arrangement will see the duo launch Commerz Globalpay GmbH. which will operate with a focus on offering payments to German SMEs. The fact Commerzbank followed this JV with its real-time transfer deal with Worldline suggests that the bank is eyeing up a greater pan-European profile in 2024.
Meanwhile, for Worldline, the renewal comes shortly after the firm announced a major new partner in Google, focused on utilising the Big Tech firm’s cloud technologies to bolster its own payments platform.
“We are delighted to expand our already extensive partnership with Commerzbank,” said Alessandro Baroni, Head of Financial Services at Worldline.
“With our international expertise and industry-leading solutions, we enable Commerzbank to offer instant payments in numerous European countries and also give its Swiss customers the opportunity to send and receive instant payments. This next step in our partnership showcases Worldline’s role as the ideal partner for banks worldwide.”
