Eurosystem moves toward extending T2 operating hours

28 May 2026

The Eurosystem has published a report outlining its roadmap for extending the operating hours of T2, the real-time gross settlement system of its TARGET Services. The roadmap is the result of a public consultation launched in June 2025, which sought input from market stakeholders on the potential benefits, priorities, risks and challenges of such an extension. The report provides a detailed analysis of the feedback received from 125 entities across 19 countries, accounting for a large share of T2 traffic.

The consultation identified the need to improve liquidity management for instant payments as the primary reason for extending T2 operating hours, given their rapid growth and 24/7/365 availability. In the future, this extension could also benefit services such as Pontes, which will eventually operate around the clock, all year round, and the potential digital euro. Market participants expressed a preference for a phased-in approach, starting with improvements to liquidity management before gradually moving towards a full 24/7 operational model.

The roadmap set out in the report includes short-term measures aimed at improving liquidity management and proposals for medium to long-term implementation. In the short term, the Eurosystem will introduce a short settlement window for liquidity transfers in T2 on most weekends and TARGET holidays. This, together with the previous decisions to (i) automatically remunerate excess liquidity held in TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) accounts, and (ii) introduce rule-based liquidity transfers to and from TIPS, will help significantly improve liquidity management for TARGET participants.^[1] The medium to long-term measures pave the way for the future evolution of the TARGET Services. These initiatives will require significant changes to the current infrastructure as well as active engagement and close collaboration with market stakeholders throughout the implementation process. To ensure that any measures implemented remain aligned with market needs and innovation, the Eurosystem plans to launch another market consultation by early 2027.

The proposed extension of the operating hours supports the Eurosystem’s work to strengthen the international role of the euro, responds to the growing demand for real-time transactions driven by the rise of instant payments and is in line with the G20 roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments.