EU: Instant Payments Are Here! Send Money within Seconds

Feb 23, 2024 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

No more delays of several days when transferring money. Individuals and businesses in the European Union will soon be able to receive money in a matter of seconds. This has been decided by the members of the European Parliament, paving the way for the new regulation to be adopted.

The new rules prioritise consumer safety – reliable and constantly updated fraud detection and recipient identity verification. They will also ensure that no one is charged more for sending an instant credit transfer.

Robust fraud detection and prevention tools should be available to payment service providers to ensure security. The aim is to prevent credit transfers from being made to the wrong account as a result of fraud or error. To this end, immediate verification of the recipient’s identity should be offered by payment service providers operating in the EU. In addition, customers should be given the possibility to set a maximum amount for instant credit transfers in euro. This amount can be changed at any time.

The new rules will also apply to Member States that do not participate in the monetary union, provided that the accounts already offer regular transactions in euro.

The text of the regulation has already been agreed with EU Member States. It will update the current Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) rules.

The new rules will enter into force 20 days after they have been published in the Official Journal of the EU. Member states then have 12 months to implement.

Press Release, European Parliament (8 February 2024)