According to the German Bundesbank, on Monday a new European payment system called TARGET2 organised by European central banks in order to facilitate payments within Europe was successfully launched. The new system for the transfer of large amounts and for urgent transfers will gradually replacethe decentralized old TARGET system which has been operating since 1999.
The old TARGET system currently handles more than 350.000 money transfers of large amounts totaling 2.4 billion Euros each day. TARGET2 will further enhance the integration of the European financial infrastructure.
The first operational day of TARGET2 on the 19th of November passed without disruptions. In total, there were 171.000 payments to a total amount of 833 billion Euros which were processed. In a first phase TARGET2 will be joined by 259 banks from eight countries. 13 other EU member states will follow in two additional phases by May 19th 2008. 