Overview of payments and financial stability
Being able to pay safely is essential for all of us
Payments across the euro area rely on a vast infrastructure that ensures funds and assets get safely from one place to another. We run part of this network and keep an eye on the rest.
We also monitor developments in the banking sectors of the euro area and the EU as a whole, as well as other financial sectors, to identify any vulnerabilities and check the resilience of the financial system.
TARGET Services
The ECB and euro area national central banks operate a number of financial market infrastructures that ensure the free flow of cash, securities and collateral across Europe. These are collectively referred to as TARGET Services.
What are TARGET Services?Instant payments
People expect money to move as quickly as emails. That’s why we are working to make instant payments a reality for everyone in the euro area. TIPS is our instant payment settlement service available to banks. It lets people living in the euro area transfer money in seconds.
What is TIPS?Euro short-term rate (€STR)
The €STR is the new interest rate benchmark launched in October 2019. It reflects the costs that banks pay each other to borrow money overnight. Financial markets are expected to fully transition to the new rate by the end of 2021.
Euro short-term rate (€STR)Financial Stability Review
The Financial Stability Review analyses potential risks to financial stability in the euro area. Financial stability is essential for us as it is one component needed to ensure steady inflation.
Read our Financial Stability ReviewCyber resilience
Cyberattacks can pose a risk to individual banks and also to the financial sector as a whole. That’s why we pay close attention to cyber resilience and carry out initiatives that help the financial sector be alert and prepared.
What is cyber resilience?Innovation
Innovation in the financial sector can bring great benefits. We investigate financial innovation and how it is changing, or could change, the way financial markets work. We also want to make sure that technological disruption does not come at the cost of integration or stability.
Financial innovationMarket infrastructure and payments explained
See in three minutes how the European market infrastructure for payment and securities settlement makes our daily lives easier, even if it is not always visible. Making integration possible.
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