TARGET Services T2 – System Analysis Article Series
Part 1: Strategic & Business Context
Article 3
When I analyse payment infrastructures, I start with T2 Stakeholders. T2 sits at the heart of the euro payment system. Therefore, many parties depend on it, shape it, or govern it. In this article, I identify the key stakeholder groups in TARGET Services. I apply IREB CPRE thinking, so I examine interests, influence, responsibilities, and interactions. I rely on official Eurosystem sources and stick to traceable facts.
Why Stakeholder Analysis Matters
In requirements engineering, stakeholders influence a system, use it, impose constraints, or depend on its operation.
T2 combines real-time gross settlement with central liquidity management. As a result, it supports payment processing, liquidity management, monetary policy operations, and financial market infrastructures.
Therefore, I need to understand who influences T2 and who depends on it before I can analyse its requirements.
The Eurosystem
I place the Eurosystem at the top of the stakeholder structure.
It provides the institutional framework for TARGET Services and defines the strategic direction of T2.
From a system-analysis perspective, I associate the Eurosystem with requirements concerning:
- financial stability
- monetary policy
- security
- resilience
- efficiency
- long-term development
Therefore, I classify the Eurosystem as the main strategic and governance stakeholder.
Market Infrastructure Governance
The Market Infrastructure Board supports the management and development of TARGET Services.
In addition, stakeholder groups bring together central banks, financial institutions, and service providers. They discuss functional changes, technical specifications, testing, releases, and operational topics.
This makes stakeholder involvement part of the formal governance of T2.
Participating Central Banks
Central banks have both institutional and operational roles.
They support participants, manage central bank accounts, facilitate monetary policy operations, and interact with their national banking communities.
Therefore, their requirements affect areas such as:
- liquidity management
- account administration
- reporting
- operational procedures
- contingency measures
Moreover, T2 no longer supports only the euro. Since 2025, the Danish krone can also settle in TARGET Services through Danmarks Nationalbank.
Banks and Financial Institutions
Banks and other financial institutions form the main business-user group.
They use T2 to settle payments in central bank money and manage liquidity.
Their main requirements concern:
- reliable payment processing
- settlement finality
- liquidity information
- operating times
- security
- availability
- contingency procedures
I treat these participants as primary business stakeholders because they depend directly on T2 for daily operations.
The 4CB
Four central banks provide the technical infrastructure for TARGET Services:
- Deutsche Bundesbank
- Banque de France
- Banca d’Italia
- Banco de España
Together, they form the 4CB.
I classify them as technical and operational stakeholders.
Their responsibilities create requirements for availability, performance, cybersecurity, monitoring, maintenance, incident handling, and business continuity.
I therefore distinguish between the Eurosystem as governing authority and the 4CB as technical service providers.
Ancillary Systems
T2 also settles transactions for financial market infrastructures.
These include, for example:
- retail payment systems
- securities settlement systems
- central counterparties
- other ancillary systems
Their requirements often focus on timing, settlement finality, liquidity, interfaces, operating windows, and contingency arrangements.
Therefore, I classify them as settlement and dependency stakeholders.
Other TARGET Services
T2 operates as part of a wider TARGET environment.
Important connected services include:
These services share infrastructure, standards, and liquidity relationships.
Consequently, I treat them as interface stakeholders. Their dependencies can create requirements for data exchange, liquidity transfers, operating schedules, shared components, and coordinated releases.
Connectivity and Control Stakeholders
T2 also depends on technical connectivity providers. They enable participants to access TARGET Services securely and reliably.
In addition, oversight, risk, audit, cybersecurity, and regulatory functions influence T2 without processing payments themselves.
I classify these groups as technical or constraint stakeholders.
They contribute requirements concerning:
- connectivity
- resilience
- compliance
- cybersecurity
- auditability
- business continuity
T2 Stakeholder Overview
For my system analysis, I group the main stakeholders as follows:
- Strategic authority: Eurosystem
- Governance: Market Infrastructure Board
- Operational central-bank stakeholders: participating central banks
- Technical service providers: 4CB
- Primary business users: banks and financial institutions
- Settlement partners: ancillary systems
- Interface stakeholders: T2S, TIPS, ECMS
- Technical stakeholders: connectivity providers
- Constraint stakeholders: oversight, risk, audit, and regulatory functions
Companies, consumers, and financial markets depend indirectly on T2. However, I normally classify them as affected parties rather than core stakeholders because they do not interact directly with the system.
This distinction keeps the stakeholder model useful and prevents it from becoming too broad.
Conclusion
When I analyse T2 stakeholders, I separate governance, users, operations, interfaces, and constraints.
The Eurosystem sets the strategic direction. Central banks and financial institutions depend on T2 operationally. The 4CB provide the infrastructure. Ancillary systems and other TARGET Services create important dependencies. Finally, connectivity, oversight, and regulatory functions add technical and organisational constraints.
A clear stakeholder model shows me where requirements originate, who depends on them, and where risks or conflicts can emerge.
That makes stakeholder analysis an essential foundation for understanding T2 as a system.
For more content and documents, consult the European Central Bank’s pages on TARGET Services.