ECB Approves Weekend Settlement Window as T2 Inches Toward Round-the-Clock Operation | LeapRate

Europe’s payment backbone is edging closer to a 24/7 future. The European Central Bank’s Governing Council has approved the introduction of a short settlement window in T2, the Eurosystem’s real-time gross settlement system, during most weekends, with the option of extending it to TARGET closing days as well. The new window is due to arrive within the next two years.

The decision, confirmed in the Governing Council’s June decisions published on 12 June, follows a public consultation that ran from June to September 2025 and drew responses from 125 entities across 19 countries, institutions that together account for the majority of T2 traffic by both volume and value.

T2 currently operates around 22.5 hours per weekday but closes entirely over the weekend. That gap has become an increasingly awkward fit with TIPS, the Eurosystem’s instant payment service, which runs every hour of every day of the year. Banks funding instant payments through the weekend have no way to top up or adjust their TIPS positions until T2 reopens, a problem that has grown sharply since the Instant Payments Regulation took full effect in October 2025. Overnight liquidity parked in TIPS roughly tripled over the course of 2025, reaching a daily average of €88.8 billion by December.

The weekend window, expected to run for one to two hours between Saturday evening and early Sunday morning, is designed to close that gap, letting participants rebalance their funding positions mid-weekend rather than front-loading liquidity on Friday and hoping for the best.

It arrives alongside two companion measures taking effect this month: from 17 June, excess liquidity held overnight on TARGET accounts, including TIPS accounts, is automatically remunerated at the deposit facility rate, removing the need for the daily end-of-day shuffle of funds back to T2; and new floor and ceiling functionality automates liquidity transfers on TIPS accounts.

Consultation respondents broadly backed a phased approach rather than a leap to full 24/7 operation, citing the costs of IT upgrades, additional staffing and the liquidity risks of keeping settlement open when money markets are shut. There is no immediate change to T2’s main cut-off times or value dating. But the direction of travel is clear: the Governing Council has instructed the Market Infrastructure Board to explore further extensions over the medium to long term, and a follow-up market consultation is planned for late 2026 or early 2027.

The longer-term case goes beyond instant payments. Extended hours would align T2 with other major RTGS systems globally, support late-day margin calls, and lay groundwork for the digital euro and Pontes, the Eurosystem’s planned DLT settlement link, both of which would sit uneasily on infrastructure that sleeps at weekends.

For now, Europe’s wholesale payment rails get a Saturday-night shift.