The development of an instant payment service was one of three projects which the Eurosystem initiated under its “Vision 2020” banner to enhance market infrastructures.

After the TIPS Task Force – a working group made up of market representatives and chaired by the ECB –  had explored the feasibility, the ECB Governing Council decided on 21 June 2017 to implement TIPS as the first of the three project initiatives under the “Vision 2020” banner. A go-live date of November 2018 was scheduled.

This left little time to put the project into practice, and it was again only through close cooperation with the market that it was possible to hit this deadline. Specifically, the stakeholders formed the TIPS Contact Group. By convening at regular intervals and commenting on numerous draft versions of documents in writing, this group played a key role in drawing up the documentation specifying TIPS in an iterative process. Just like the TIPS Task Force, the TIPS Contact Group was made up of representatives from credit institutions, clearing systems and Eurosystem central banks. All the documents from the contact group's meetings can be found on the European Central Bank’s website.

After a pilot test phase of three months, during which the German pilot banks were closely monitored and supported by the Bundesbank’s TARGET Services National Service Desk, TIPS went live successfully on 30 November 2018.