- The European Parliament has adopted new regulations aimed at ensuring euro money transfers arrive in bank accounts “within ten seconds” throughout the EU.
- The regulations, set to improve the speed and safety of financial transfers, focus on ensuring SMEs do not have to wait for their money.
- The guidelines revise the current Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) protocols.
- Banks and payment service providers (PSPs) are now responsible for the immediate processing of credit transfers, ensuring recipients receive the money within ten seconds, and payers are informed within the same timeframe.
- The regulations will be enforced across all member states, with a special derogation for accounts outside business hours for currencies other than the euro.
- The Instant Payments Regulation is considered a long-awaited modernization of payments in the European single market, providing customers with quicker access to their money.
- PSPs must implement ID verification and fraud detection solutions without additional charges or fees to prevent transfers from going into incorrect accounts due to error or fraud.
