Instant payments: banks outside the euro area must receive instant euro transfers

The Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) (external site) requires payment service providers, the banks and other licensed firms that hold payment accounts, to offer instant credit transfers in euro wherever they offer ordinary euro transfers. An instant credit transfer moves money between two accounts within seconds, on any day and at any hour, so the payee can use the funds at once.

This event covers the first step for providers in EU countries whose currency is not the euro, such as Poland. From 9 January 2027 they are required to receive instant euro transfers, and the price rule starts to apply to them (ECB overview of the regulation (external site)).

Until 9 January 2027 the regulation does not oblige these providers to accept instant euro transfers. From that date, every payment account that can receive a standard euro transfer, including an account held in the national currency, can also receive an instant one, at any time of the week (Regulation (EU) 2024/886 (external site)).

From the same date, a provider may not charge more for an instant euro transfer than for a standard euro transfer of the same type (ECB overview (external site)). As an illustrative example only: if a standard euro transfer costs EUR 2, an instant one costs at most EUR 2.

The regulation also changes how sanctions are checked. Providers verify whether any of their customers are subject to EU targeted financial restrictive measures at least once every calendar day, and immediately after new designations, instead of screening each instant transfer (Regulation (EU) 2024/886 (external site)). Recital 15 links this procedure to the date on which receiving starts (Regulation (EU) 2024/886 (external site)).

The rule applies to credit institutions located in EU countries outside the euro area that offer euro transfers. Payment institutions and electronic money institutions there follow their own receiving date of 9 April 2027 (Regulation (EU) 2024/886 (external site)).

• Payments Operations Analyst: handles incoming euro payments and their exceptions on any day, outside business-day windows.
• Payments Messaging Specialist (SWIFT): sets up and monitors the message flows for instant euro transfers received from an instant payment system.
• Sanctions Analyst: runs the daily check of the customer base against EU sanctions lists in place of screening each instant transfer.
• Cash Management Product Manager: aligns the fees for instant and standard euro transfers in the product offer.
• Treasury Operations Analyst: funds the euro settlement position for payments that can arrive on any day.
• Transaction Banking Analyst: updates the euro payment offer for corporate clients to include instant receipts.

The regulation entered into force on 8 April 2024 as an amendment to the SEPA Regulation (consolidated text of Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 (external site)). All the dates below are set in the legal text and are confirmed.

• 9 January 2025 and 9 October 2025: euro area providers receive and then send instant euro transfers (ECB overview (external site)).
• 9 January 2027: providers outside the euro area receive instant euro transfers, and the price rule applies.
• 9 April 2027: payment and electronic money institutions receive.
• 9 July 2027: providers outside the euro area send instant euro transfers and offer verification of payee.

The SEPA Regulation of 2012 set common rules for euro credit transfers and direct debits across the EU (summary of the SEPA Regulation (external site)). Instant transfers stayed an optional service until the 2024 amendment, which the Commission put forward in its legislative proposal on instant payments (external site).

The 2024 amendment makes the service a standard feature of euro accounts. For EU countries outside the euro area, it brings instant euro payments into reach from January 2027 (European Commission (external site)).