Instant credit transfer is progressively establishing itself as a new standard in Europe. During the morning of the third and final day of TRUSTECH 2025, in the PAY room, a round table chaired by Andréa TOUCINHO brought together several European experts to analyse this transformation. Alongside her were Ananda KAUTZ (ABBL Luxembourg), Thibault DE BARSY (The Payments Association EU), Maria Tereza CAVACO (Banco de Portugal) and Cathie-Rosalie JOLY (Neolexya). At the heart of the discussions: the entry into application of the European regulation on instant payment, its concrete consequences for banks and payment service providers, as well as the new use cases emerging across the single market.

A New Step towards European Harmonisation

The starting point is regulatory. For several years, instant payments was based on voluntary adherence to the SCT Inst scheme (Credit Transfer Instant: the European instant credit transfer scheme). The result: uneven adoption depending on the country. Some States, such as the Netherlands or Spain, rapidly developed usage. Others remained behind. This fragmentation was incompatible with the objective of an integrated European payment market.

The European Commission therefore decided to act. As Thibault DE BARSY recalled, the penetration of instant payments represented only around 11% of SEPA transfers (Single Euro Payments Area: single euro payments area) at the time the regulatory project was launched. The ambition is clear: to generalise instantaneity and make it the norm. Behind this decision lies a major economic issue: “€200 billion were blocked because of payments processed within one to three days in Europe.” Instantaneity therefore aims to accelerate the circulation of liquidity and to make the economy more fluid.

The choice of a regulation rather than a directive guarantees uniform application in all Member States. Cathie-Rosalie JOLY underlined that this decision puts an end to the “multi-speed” approach observed until now. Among the key measures: the prohibition on charging more for an instant credit transfer than for a standard transfer, and the obligation to implement VOP (Verification of Payee: verification of the beneficiary before execution). Concretely, the bank verifies that the name indicated corresponds to the IBAN entered, in order to reduce errors and limit fraud. Instant payment thus becomes a structuring tool of the single market, both a lever for modernisation and an instrument of economic sovereignty.

 

Major Operational Developments for Banks and Payment Service Providers (PSPs)

If the rule is clear, its implementation is complex. Banks and Payment Service Providers must now be capable of receiving and sending instant credit transfers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a maximum execution time of ten seconds. Ananda KAUTZ detailed the challenges encountered in Luxembourg, a country highly exposed to cross-border flows. The issue is not limited to payments between individuals: the regulation also covers corporate payments, bulk transfers and integrations with accounting systems. The scope is therefore much broader than a simple digital service aimed at retail.

The ten-second requirement poses a particular challenge in terms of compliance. Checks related to international sanctions and anti-money laundering must continue to be carried out, but within an extremely constrained timeframe. Liquidity management constitutes another major issue: institutions must have the necessary funds available at all times, including at night and at weekends, which alters internal balances. The implementation of VOP has also revealed data quality issues: spelling variations, accents, compound names. All elements likely to generate “false mismatches”. In Luxembourg, a shared solution has made it possible to harmonise practices between stakeholders. Finally, communication towards customers was decisive. A poor understanding of the mechanism could have led to saturation of customer services. Anticipation and education enabled a relatively smooth deployment, with today a majority of positive matches during beneficiary verifications.

 

Changing Use Cases and a Catalytic Role for the European Payment Ecosystem

Beyond regulatory compliance, the central question remains that of usage. B2C payments, particularly in e-commerce, constitutes an obvious first area of expansion. But the potential is also significant in B2B: supplier payments, cash management, accounting reconciliation. Instantaneity modifies financial cycles and reduces collection times. Thibault DE BARSY points out that certain regions of Europe, notably the Nordic countries, the Baltic states, have taken the lead. The Benelux also shows higher levels of adoption than other markets, partly thanks to local solutions already embedded in user habits. The progressive integration of these solutions into the EPI ecosystem could amplify the phenomenon.

The real challenge, however, goes beyond simple P2P (Peer-to-Peer: payments between individuals). “P2P is interesting, but the real challenge is merchant acceptance,” he indicated. Integration into merchant checkout journeys and with acquirers will be decisive in scaling up. For banking and institutional players, instant payment is no longer an additional product: it becomes a central infrastructure, capable of supporting new economic models, feeding open banking scenarios and strengthening European competitiveness vis-à-vis other regions of the world.

 

Instant credit transfer in Europe marks a decisive stage in the evolution of Europe’s payments landscape. By moving from voluntary adoption to a harmonised obligation, the European Union is transforming a technical tool into a structuring standard of the single market. While operational challenges remain significant, the foundations of a more integrated and more responsive ecosystem are now in place. The next stage will depend on stakeholders’ ability to develop high value-added use cases, particularly in merchant and cross-border environments.

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