著者

中島 真志

出版者

麗澤大学

雑誌

麗澤経済研究 (ISSN:09196706)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.15, no.1, pp.79-92, 2007-03

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A payment system is a mechanism that facilitates smooth transfer of funds among financial institutions. Generally, it consist of a set of instruments, procedures, rules and technical bases, like computers and networks. Payment systems are the important social infrastructures that support the whole national economic activities and financial transactions. Payment systems are classified into two categories: "central bank operating systems" and "private-owned systems". Payment systems are also broken down into "large-value payment systems" and "retail payment systems", according to the amount of payments processed. Generally, a large-value payment system operated by a central bank is the most important payment system in a country, which handles the interbank fund transactions, the payments for government bond, and the transactions between central bank and private financial institutions. Coincidentally, the two enhancement projects of large-value payment system operated by central banks are developing in EU and Japan. In Japan, Bank of Japan is working on "RTGS-XG project", on the other hand, European Central Bank is promoting "TARGET2 Project". It is quite interesting that these two projects are similarly named as "Next Generation RTGS Project". Both projects have something in common in the point that both payment systems are evolving from the "pure RTGS systems" to the "integrated systems". First of all, this paper gives a summary account of the two Next Generation RTGS Projects in EU and Japan. Then, the characterization and positioning of the Next Generation RTGS systems in the evolutionary process of large-value payment systems would be discussed.