Instant Payment is a working reality in Italy where about 50 banks (13 bank groups) have joint the P2P “Jiffy” service, offering to their customers the possibility to send and receive money in real time through an app on their smartphone to and from their contacts. “Jiffy” is now targeting Germany on its march to success. In order to establish the service also in Germany, GFT Technologies SE and SIA S.p.A. are pooling their expertise and now launching a sales cooperation for the German market.

There are still no signs of a P2P payment service which can be easily used throughout Germany. In 2013, the Italian payment service provider SIA developed “Jiffy” together with GFT, the IT specialist for the financial industry. The system associates the phone number to the IBAN code of the account and enables the user – as with WhatsApp – to select a receiver from the personal contacts on the smartphone. After entering the amount and a text message (if required), easily click to complete the send operation.

The person-to-person service is compliant with the European Retail Payment Board (ERPB) recommendations on instant payments. Based on SEPA credit transfer, Jiffy is opened to all banks operating in the Single Euro Payment Area and potentially useable by over 400 million European current account holders. So, it can be introduced with a limited effort, leveraging on the existent banking infrastructure. Jiffy is available for smartphones using Android, iOS and Windows Phone operating systems and is distinguished by its speed and user-friendliness.

“Jiffy” at the Euro Finance Week in Frankfurt

“Jiffy” is a payment service that radically transforms the way people handle money. GFT and SIA will be presenting the innovative P2P service at the Euro Finance Week from 17 to 19 November 2015.

“Jiffy stands for security and innovation. We developed the software modules for Jiffy’s frontend – e.g. including the white-label app and the customer interface. Every bank can customise Jiffy in order to attract new customers or strengthen the loyalty of their existing clients. Driving sales together in Germany is the next important step,” says Bernd Kohl, Executive Director of GFT Germany.

"Jiffy has the potential to replace cash transactions among private individuals and is continuously evolving to support new models as for example payments to small businesses like plumbers or house painters. Starting from last week, Italians can also use this innovative tool to make donations to charities such as the Italian Association for Cancer Research. Jiffy is compliant with the law concerning charitable donations, which enables donors to benefit from tax deduction,” says Cristina Astore, Head of SIA North West Europe.

Already 13 Italian bank groups adopting “Jiffy”

The new payment service is currently being adopted by 13 Italian bank groups. Together, they cover more than 80 percent of all domestic bank accounts. They include Unicredit, Intesa SanPaolo, UBI Banca, Gruppo Carige, Cariparma (Gruppo Credit Agricole), BNL (BNP Paribas Group), Gruppo Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Mediolanum, Banca Popolare di Milano, Banca Popolare di Sondrio, Banca Popolare di Vicenza, Che Banca! and Gruppo Poste Italiane.