Adopted by the EU Council - instant payments in euros to be fully available in the EU and EEA countries

On 13 March, 2024, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted a regulation that will make instant payments in euros fully available to consumers and businesses in the European Union and European Economic Area countries. As Crede Experto, a subsidiary of ARBES Technologies, has been anticipating this move for some time, it has prepared an innovative solution to integrate these payments into existing banking core systems. 

The EU Regulation opens the door to the free movement of investments and savings between all member states, which should bring significant benefits to citizens, businesses and investors. This change will allow transactions between bank accounts with a maximum of €100,000 to be carried out instantly, 24x7, regardless of bank opening hours. Any payment institution under the jurisdiction of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union will thus have to comply with this regulation, while any charges may not be higher than for standard SEPA transfers.   

Instant payments in a few months  

"Integrating instant payments into the existing core systems of these institutions is not easy. However, Crede Experto, in cooperation with its partner, the Slovak company Digital Systems, offers a quick and simple solution that can integrate the service into the systems of payment service providers in just a few months," says Jiří Sandanus, CEO of Crede Experto. 

The standard implementation time for instant payments is usually one to two years. Reducing this timeframe to a few months is therefore crucial for the functioning of euro instant payments in the EU. 

"Our comprehensive solution, which combines Digital Systems' Payment Transaction System Crede Experto and SWIFT Alliance Gateway Instant products, allows financial institutions to focus solely on internal integration. This saves them valuable time and reduces the resource requirements needed to implement euro instant payment services," says Sandanus.  

The Instant Payment Regulation will come into force after a transitional period, the length of which varies from country to country. Countries in the euro zone have deadlines already set for next year (9 January, 2025 receiving, 9 October, 2025 sending SEPA IP), for countries outside the euro zone the regulation will gradually apply in 2027 (9 January, 2027 and 9 July, 2027). 

Bankovnictví 06/2024