BoV becomes direct participant in TARGET 2

Bank of Valletta has become a participant in TARGET2, the continuous euro payment system for large-value bank transfers.

TARGET 2 is accessible to a large number of participants and most credit institutions use it to make payments on their behalf or for others

The trans-European automated real-time gross settlement express transfer system is a real-time gross settlement system adopted by more than 866 direct participants and allows payment transactions to be settled on a continuous basis.

TARGET2 is accessible to a large number of participants and most credit institutions use it to make payments on their own behalf or on behalf of other, indirect participants. It is one of the largest payment systems in the world with a daily average exceeding 300,000 transactions that reached €2.3 billion in 2010.

Bank of Valletta aims for this initiative to provide a straightforward, efficient service to its customers. Same-day high value transfers will be carried out within the eurosystem through TARGET2.

This allows the bank to directly track the payment to its destination, with additional assurances that the beneficiary has received the funds.

Direct participation in TARGET2 also enables BoV to offer TARGET2 services to other credit institutions locally and within the European Economic Area.

“Bank of Valletta considers payments to be at the core of its business,” chief officer operations Michael Galea said.

“This is a foundational initiative that continues to consolidate our position in the payments industry and allows us to develop and introduce to the market a number of related innovative payment services.

“TARGET2 is an important link in our strategy to be the payment institution of choice on the island”.

More than 50,000 banks worldwide and their customers can be addressed through TARGET2.