21 November 2017

European Payments Council: Instant credit transfers are now a reality in eight European countries

The SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme created by the European Payments Council is operational. Nearly 600 payment service providers (PSPs) from eight European countries are now offering instant payment solutions based on SCT Inst.

The scheme allows the electronic transfer of money – currently up to 15,000 euros – progressively across Europe in less than ten seconds, at any time and on any day of the year, including weekends and holidays. The transactions covered by the scheme must be denominated in euros.

The 585 PSPs participating in the SCT Inst scheme are located in eight European countries: Austria, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Spain. Customers from these PSPs – individuals, businesses, corporations and administrations – can now make and receive instant euro credit transfers within their national borders as well as cross-border (starting with these eight countries), with the funds being immediately available. 

SCT Inst offers an endless list of convenient uses for all segments of customers. It is especially highly convenient, for example, if an individual needs to urgently send money to a relative, or to pay for a product or service that requires on-the-spot settlement. With regular credit transfers, it can take up to one business day for the beneficiary to see the money in their account.

This is only the beginning of the European journey towards instant payments. The geographical scope of SCT Inst will progressively span over 34 European countries. More PSPs from major European countries are expected to join the scheme in 2018 and 2019. Among them, PSPs from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden.

What is more, the EPC will make the scheme evolve to better reflect market needs. This will be done in close dialogue with all payment stakeholders. For example, the maximum amount per transaction will be regularly reviewed starting from November 2018. An increased maximum amount will make the scheme more attractive for companies.

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