Direct CIPS Participant

A direct participant in CIPS holds its own settlement account in the system and sends and receives payments through its own connection. CIPS, launched in 2015, clears and settles cross-border renminbi payments, and its direct participants include large Chinese banks, overseas branches of Chinese banks and a number of foreign banks. The list of participants is published by CIPS and has grown steadily since launch, so whether a particular bank is a direct participant is a checkable fact rather than a sales claim.

Direct participation affects speed and control. A direct participant can settle a renminbi payment itself, without passing it through another bank, which can mean fewer intermediaries, more predictable timing and fewer deductions. It also carries obligations: liquidity in the settlement account, technical connection, and compliance with the system's rules. Those obligations are why direct participation is limited to approved financial institutions and financial-market infrastructures rather than open to any company.

For most importers the question is simply whether their own provider is a direct participant, an indirect participant, or routes renminbi another way. That answer explains part of the cost and timing of an RMB payment. The CIPS guide sets out the questions to ask. Ask too whether the provider can track the payment end to end and how it handles a rejection by the beneficiary bank.