SIA, the Italian payment processor, has launched a new service called Jiffy that allows users to make real time transfers across the European Union using a smartphone app.
The service, which complies with all SEPA regulations, links the Iban number of the user’s bank account to their phone number in order to make SEPA credit transfers. Both the sender and the recipient need to be signed up to the service to make a transaction, which they can then do by simply clicking on the beneficiary’s name and entering an amount.
“It’s a question of technology, but it’s more a question of culture, to be able to fully get the benefits out of this new way of doing things,” commented CEO Massimo Arrighetti.
Being SEPA compliant, the system can be made available to over 400 current account holders across the Eurozone. SIA says that it has already been picked up by major Italian banks that encompass 60% of the country’s accounts. UBI Banca is set to introduce the service across its entire network after successfully piloting the scheme in Bergamo.
“For us, it’s a key priority to go abroad,” said Nicola Cordone, senior vice president of SIA.
