Global transaction platform Ebury has launched its new feature, ‘Ebury Instant’, which allows clients to make and receive payments immediately, regardless of currency and the cut-off time that usually applies.

Where both parties are Ebury clients, payments will arrive in the recipient's account immediately, in the currency in which the funds were sent.

“Ebury Instant means international transactions which would previously have taken minutes or hours, are now immediate,” said Juan Lobato, Ebury CEO. “Making global payments easier, faster, and more flexible is at the heart of what Ebury does. This is a natural progression for us, and one we believe will make a tangible difference to our clients who are able to improve their relationships with buyers and suppliers by using the Ebury global ecosystem. Chasing payments will be a thing of the past for our clients”.

Security has not been sacrificed for speed: double verification is required before the first payment is made to a new beneficiary, and all payments are checked by Anti-Money Laundering & Screening systems. The service is automatically activated for all of Ebury’s clients.

The service allows clients to accelerate their business operations. For the beneficiary this means immediate cash inflow, while the payer benefits from immediate payment settlement, enabling faster execution of ‘cash in advance’ transactions. It is expected to make a particular impact on companies making recurrent transactions with the same payer or beneficiary.

Ebury hopes the new feature will provide a timely difference for firms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Juan Lobato added: “Now more than ever, rapid access to funding is essential for companies, and will remain so over the coming weeks and months. The more agile our payments systems are, the more we can achieve in supporting our clients.”