Data released by the National Clearing House (KIR) shows that in November this year, 181.2 million transactions were made in the Elixir system, which handles traditional interbank transfers. At the same time, 46.8 million transactions went through the Express Elixir system, which handles instant payments. This means, therefore, that ‘expresses’ already accounted for approximately 20.5 percent of retail transfers, thus reaching their highest share ever.

The proliferating number of express transfers on the Polish market is nothing new. This has been going on for a long time, and the phenomenon accelerated after 2015, when Blik and its transaction service to the recipient's phone number, which uses the Express Elixir system, appeared on the market. But it is not just Blik that is behind the rise in the use of this system.

See also: New payment card with a credit limit from Żabka? The company is analyzing the design of the new service

"Among the factors favoring this, I would also mention the growing availability of this type of service in banks - some institutions offer it free of charge within certain packages, others offer several free express transfers per month, and so on. In addition, express transfers appear in the offer of new entities, which have not provided such services so far," says Grzegorz Leńkowski, director of the Instant Payments Business Line at KIR. Worth mentioning here are, among others, Poczta Polska or Revolut.

In the opinion of the representative of KIR, when analyzing the improving statistics of the Express Elixir system, it should also be remembered that this is also influenced by changing customer behavior. "There is a growing awareness among them of the existence of such a service and its rules. A younger generation of customers is also entering the banking market, for whom ‘immediacy’ is important", believes Grzegorz Leńkowski.

When calculating the share of express transfers in interbank transactions, it should be remembered that the Elixir and Express Elixir systems are not the only money transfer solutions on the Polish market. Regarding near real-time transfers, there is also the Blue Cash system (owned by Autopay) and Sorbnet, operated by the central bank. Therefore, the share of ‘expresses’ in total transactions may be even higher than our calculations suggest. Nevertheless, the systems managed by KIR are the primary vehicle for interbank transactions in Poland.

See also: Inteligo's fate is not a foregone conclusion. PKO BP wants to keep the brand for further use

It is also worth noting that although Express Elixir's share in the number of transactions has reached a significant level of 20 percent, it is still low, not to say negligible, in terms of transaction value. In November, transfers totaling PLN 755.8 billion went through traditional Elixir, while PLN 23.4 billion went through Express Elixir. The latter thus accounted for only around 3 percent of the total. This may also explain why, for a long time to come, Elixir will remain the basic system for interbank settlements in Poland. It is used by companies to transfer money between themselves or to send salaries to employees. In such situations, ‘immediacy’ is not required, and the execution of transactions within a few hours, which Elixir usually ensures, is sufficient.

However, it is clear that instant systems' popularity will continue to grow. This will be determined not only by the factors that today account for the growth in Express Elixir transactions. "It may also be influenced, among other things, by the change currently underway in the European Union. In the EU, customers will soon be able to use this type of transfer on the same basis as traditional transfers, thanks to the regulation on immediate payments in euros (the so-called IPR). This will translate into statistics and affect our market to a greater or lesser extent. If only because multinational corporations will transfer solutions, increasingly based on instant payments in the euro area, also to our country", believes Grzegorz Leńkowski.