Salary payments for the month of March “will therefore have to be expected by companies” as bank transfers will be suspended for four days from Thursday evening for the Easter weekend, the Bank of France said on Tuesday.
Money flows between euro area banks through the Target 2 system, which is open every day except weekends and January 1, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May 1 and December 25 and 26. It will therefore be closed for more than 100 hours from 6pm on Thursday 28 March and 2:30am on Tuesday 2 April, the Banque de France clarified.
Calendars “Previously Known”
If this scenario were to occur every year for more than 20 years, then 2024’s uniqueness lies in the dates of Good Friday and Easter Monday: 29 March and 1 April, when salaries are sent to employees. This closing schedule is “known in advance”, underlines the French Banking Federation (FBF).
They are also “relayed by banks to their corporate clients. So we can assume that the companies have taken the necessary anticipatory measures for the transfer orders planned during this closed period, especially in salary, so that the latter is processed in view of this extended closed period, like every year. », adds the professional federation. .
The FBF concludes that instant transfer services offered by banks “remain operational during periods when settlement systems are closed.”
