The banking industry is discussing how to extend the days and hours for processing customer money transfers. The banks are urged to aim for a system that runs 24/7 by considering the needs of people and businesses that want to send money at night or over the weekend for speedy, real-time settlement of payments.
In countries such as Britain, Sweden and Singapore, a system has been established to enable money transfers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Such a system is called for in the economic growth strategy adopted by the Abe administration in June, which mentions the need to upgrade the quality of financial services.
Currently, in Japan, a customer can transfer a money payment between accounts at different banks only until 3 p.m. on weekdays. For example, such a transaction made after 3 p.m. on Friday won't be completed until the following Monday.