What does TIPS stand for?

TIPS is the instant payment service offered by the Eurosystem.
TIPS stands for TARGET Instant Payment Settlement:

T – TARGET

In legal terms, TIPS is a component of TARGET, even though it is operated as a separate platform. It was the first of three projects implemented to enhance the market infrastructure in the Eurosystem (the others being T2/T2S consolidation and the Eurosystem collateral management system ECMS). The ECB Governing Council’s decision in June 2017 to put the TIPS project into practice paved the way for this innovative service to be added to the TARGET family. TIPS has been operating since November 2018.

IP – instant payments

Instant payments are “electronic retail payment solutions available 24/7/365 and resulting in the immediate or close-to-immediate interbank clearing of the transaction and crediting of the payee’s account with confirmation to the payer (within seconds of payment initiation)”. Given this 24/7/365 availability, it is possible to settle instant payments around the clock, every day of the year. 
This definition by the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB) applies irrespective of the underlying payment instrument used and of the underlying arrangements for clearing and settlement.

The European Payments Council (EPC) fleshed this definition out in greater detail in a European payment scheme – the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme – which entered into force in November 2017. TIPS enables participating credit institutions to settle instant payments throughout Europe in compliance with the SCT Inst scheme rules.

S – settlement

Transactions in TIPS are settled directly in secure central bank money. Because TIPS requires all payments to be covered and the payment amount is blocked on the TIPS account of the originator’s payment service provider before the payment message is sent to the receiving participant, the settlement of interbank payments is risk-free for participating credit institutions. On average, it takes less than 100 milliseconds to settle a transaction in TIPS.