OREANDA-NEWS. January 03, 2011. The changeover to the euro continues to be a success. First domestic interbank retail payments in euro took place via Eesti Pank on Monday at 9.

ESTA, Eesti Pank's settlement system for domestic retail payments started operating on Monday at 8.30, as usual. Eesti Pank carried out the first settlement between commercial banks at 9 o'clock, when about 25,000 retail payments were settled. ESTA continues to operate like on a usual business day.

Commercial banks use ESTA when their customers make domestic interbank transfers. Retail payments move through ESTA about ten times each business day. On average, ESTA processes about 100,000 retail payments with total value of 130 million euro each business day. ESTA participants are banks and the Estonian Central Register of Securities.

TARGET2-Eesti, which is part of TARGET2, the Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross Settlement Express Transfer System, started on Monday at 8 as usual and its operation proceeds like on any normal business day.

Due to the adoption of the euro, Eesti Pank has closed its third settlement system, EP RTGS, which settled domestic express payments in the Estonian kroon.