TARGET services

TARGET services are the services developed and managed by the Eurosystem that allow cash, securities and collateral to move freely across Europe.

T2 – real-time gross settlement system

T2S – securities settlement platform

TIPS – instant payment services

ECMS – Eurosystem Collateral Management System (ECMS), which will be ready for launch in June 2025.

TARGET is operated on a single technical platform and provides its services to all of its participants under the same conditions.

TARGET services have been developed so that functions that are used by different services are commonly used across those services. These functions include common components shared by all services like the ESMIG interface to access TARGET services, common reference data management, the data warehouse and billing feature; a single liquidity pool (Central Liquidity Management - CLM), which allows the balances of accounts opened in different TARGET services to be monitored and the money transfers between those accounts to be automated; one message standard ISO 20022; and the common pricing guide.

Read more about TARGET services on the website of the European Central Bank

The evolution of TARGET services

• The first generation of TARGET started working in the euro area on 4 January 1999, just a few days after the euro was introduced, and it brought together the real-time gross settlement systems (RTGS) of different countries
  • Eesti Pank launched a local RTGS in 2002, and it was merged into TARGET in November 2006
• The first generation of TARGET was replaced by TARGET2 in 2007
  • Eesti Pank joined the new system on 19 May 2008 when TARGET2-Eesti was created.
• T2S started operating in June 2015
  • Nasdaq CSD joined the platform in September 2017
• The Eurosystem started operating TIPS services in November 2018
  • The banks that were already providing instant payment services in Estonia joined TIPS in December 2021 to benefit from the interoperability between the different instant payment systems offered by TIPS
• Work to consolidate the TARGET2 and T2S platforms started in 2017, and the new generation single TARGET services platform was opened in March 2023. The consolidation was done with modern technology and a new approach that reduces the combined operating costs of the services and operates liquidity management through TARGET services

TARGET-Eesti

The TARGET-Eesti component system started to operate on 20 March 2023 on the new consolidated TARGET services platform. The forerunner of TARGET-Eesti was TARGET2-Eesti, which provided services to the banks for almost 15 years in 2008-2023.

TARGET-Eesti gives participants accounts in euros for making settlements in central bank money:

• T2 main cash accounts for settling transactions with central banks, including payments related to the Eurosystem’s monetary policy operations, and for central liquidity management. A T2 main cash account is opened for any participant that wants to open a dedicated cash account (DCA) in T2, T2S or TIPS
• T2 real-time gross settlement dedicated cash accounts (RTGS DCA) and sub-accounts for making bank-to-bank payments and commercial payments in real time, and for settling transactions with ancillary systems
• T2 real-time gross settlement technical accounts, TARGET instant payments settlement (TIPS) technical accounts, and collateral accounts for settling transactions with ancillary systems
• T2S DCAs for cash payments in relation to securities settlement
• TIPS DCAs for settling instant payments

TARGET-Eesti can be joined, which includes opening an account for one or more different services, by contacting the TARGET-Eesti customer support at [email protected]. Applicants must meet the conditions described in the Payment and Settlement Systems Act for accessing settlement systems and the harmonised conditions for participation in TARGET-Eesti.

Further information on joining TARGET can be found in the TARGET registration and onboarding guide on the ECB website.

Participants in TARGET-Eesti can grant access to their T2 RTGS DCAs to third parties like correspondents, branches, or clients who have a contractual relationship with the participant.

Connecting technically to TARGET-Eesti

Network services for joining TARGET-Eesti can be provided by companies that meet the requirements set by the Eurosystem. A party joining TARGET-Eesti can choose between different connectivity options and network service providers:

• SWIFT
• NEXI

The advantages of TARGET:

• instant and large-value payments, and domestic and cross-border payments are settled under the same conditions in central bank money with immediate finality
• participation can be in various forms, as direct or addressable via T2
• some 40,000 banks around the world can be accessed through the system
• the system is open 8:00-19:00 on each settlement day, except weekends and TARGET holidays
• liquidity is available as intraday credit or overnight credit
• central liquidity management can be provided for accounts and participants from a single banking group
• there is a common pricelist for all members
• the price is the same for domestic and cross-border payments
• payment orders can be sent to the system five working days in advance
• it takes not more than five minutes to process payments

Participants in TARGET-Eesti

Holders of T2 Main Cash Accounts as at 17.04.2025:

TARGET-Eesti user support can be reached by email at [email protected] or by telephone at +372 6680 814.