MNA– A Bank Melli Iran (BMI) official said Melli Bank PLC, a BMI subsidiary, has been connected to the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system for the Eurozone dubbed TARGET2.


Gholamreza Panahi, Member of the Board of Directors of Bank Melli Iran, said the connection enables speedy and final settlement of national and cross-border payments in the Eurozone.

He underlined that Melli Bank PLC, a wholly owned UK subsidiary of Bank Melli Iran, was ready to offer brokerage services to Iranian banks for euro payments in Europe.

The official recalled that TARGET2 is the RTGS system for the euro, offered by the Eurosystem and is used for the settlement of central bank operations, large-value euro interbank transfers as well as other euro payments; “it provides real-time processing, settlement in central bank money and immediate finality.”

The connection to the payment system used in the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) marks an achievement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and Persia International Bank PLC had also previously joined TARGET2 through central bank of Germany.

Additionally, Frankfurt branch of Iran's Bank Sepah has also managed to make payment transactions in TARGET2 in the ear emerged after JCPOA.

All in all, foreign branches of Iranian banks, following JCPOA implementation, have launched extensive plans to return to cross-border payments though they require to upgrade their information and systems in the first place.