It is easy to notice a relatively fast development of Internet banking, which to a large extent facilitates the use of financial services. Thanks to such tools, the popularity of traditional transfers has significantly decreased at the cost of Internet transfers. Performing transactions using the network is not only more convenient but also saves time. A transfer order is not very difficult and lasts only a few minutes. Sent funds appear on the recipient’s account on the next business day as a standard. However, thanks to technological progress, the money can reach the recipient’s account much faster.

How does it work?

Existing since 1994, the Electronic Clearing House, in short ELIXIR is a system controlled by the National Clearing House, which in its essence ensures the correctness of electronic transactions. The system is based on data teletransmission and its main task is the interbank exchange of information concerning payment orders.

It is used for standard credit transfers, tax payment messages, direct debits, refunds or cheques. The execution of such transfers takes approximately 2 hours. Transfers made within a given banking network are an exception, as their time is shortened to several minutes. Elixir operates according to the net settlement system, i.e. in a multi-session system. In other words, the orders that should be booked depending on individual clients of banks.

The principle of the ELIXIR system is very simple. The transfer order to the payee’s account is transferred to the bank and the bank sends it to the ELIXIR system in an agreed session. All transfer data are sent to the NBP, where they are processed. The data of the ordered operation go to the appropriate bank during ELIXIR sessions, and the money transferred comes to the addressee’s account.

ELIXIR sessions

Banks provide clients with information about the possibility of making transfers through Elixir sessions. Thanks to this you can find out when a given transaction will be finalized. In order to obtain such knowledge, it is necessary to check the schedule of incoming and outgoing sessions. Outgoing sessions are the times when the bank sends funds from the sender’s account, while incoming sessions are the opposite. These are the hours after which the recipient should receive the money sent earlier.

Settlements in this system are made from Monday to Friday, i.e. on each working day, excluding days which are statutory holidays. Settlement sessions take place 3 times a day and the exact hours are determined by the National Clearing House. Each session consists of hourly scheduled stages, i.e. opening and closing the entrance, processing, settlement, exit, and reports. At the moment it looks like this:

Each of the banking networks makes settlements based on the above session schedule and its own sessions of outgoing and incoming transfers. Sessions in the ELIXIR system are carried out at fixed times, however, in the case of banks, the hours of posting funds vary. As a result, both schedules do not always overlap, which may slow down the arrival of the transfer.

In order to determine the date of the transfer’s arrival at the recipient, one should first familiarize oneself with the schedule of transfer sessions leaving the bank from which the transaction order was executed. Next, check to which settlement session of the NBP the transfer has been qualified. The last step is to verify the hours of the incoming session of the destination bank, i.e. the bank to which the transfer has been ordered.