Get ready for SEPA Instant Payments
Banks and financial institutions in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) have until 9th October 2025 to prepare for Instant Payments. Are you ready?
What you need to know about SEPA Instant Payments
The Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) will require all payment service providers (PSPs) throughout Europe to be able to send and receive instant payments by the end of 2025.
PSPs in the European Union (EU) have until 9th January 2025 to prepare for receiving instant payments, and until 9th October 2025 to ensure consumer and business banking customers can send instant payments.
Non-EU member states have until 9th January 2027 to prepare for receiving, and 9th July 2027 for sending instant payments. Non-bank PSPs have until 9th April 2027 to prepare fully.
Is Europe ready for SEPA Instant Payments?
The challenge for PSPs
Payment service providers face many challenges ahead. From implementing Verification of Payee services to daily sanctions screening and handling new peaks in real-time transactions, we break down the scale of the challenge.
SEPA Instant Payments are coming
Don’t underestimate the impact
We surveyed 200 senior payments professionals at European banks to understand the scale of the challenge. We found a large number of banks throughout Europe are unprepared to meet the scale of SEPA Instant Payments by the deadline.
32.5%
Almost a third of banks are unsure or not confident they will be able to meet the deadline to become ready for SEPA Instant Payments.
55%
Just over half of banks believe they will start to offer instant payments as the default payment method for customers after 2025.
5%
Just 5% plan to process more than 1,000 transactions per second by the end of 2025.
Research Report
Get the full picture
80% of banks in Europe have not yet implemented instant payments technology, with 58% saying the deadlines are not realistic.
Discover the full breakdown of the data in our whitepaper, “So, You Think You’re Ready For SEPA Instant?”
There is still time
There is still time to get ready for instant payments, but you must act now.
Meeting the SEPA Instant Payments Regulation deadlines means working with a partner who can help your organisation overcome each hurdle without downtime or interruption of service.
Your instant payments service must enable your customers to send and receive payments within ten seconds across all payment channels 24/7. The size and scale of this level of infrastructure will require an automated solution, which in itself must be secure. You will need to account in advance for downtime and system outages, while recording and synchronising data accurately in real-time. And your system must be scalable, ready to meet the ever-increasing demands of instant payments in the future.
Do you have both the technology and time to achieve this?
Everything you need to know
The Ultimate Guide to SEPA Instant Payments
To help PSPs meet the deadlines, we’ve outlined the context, challenges, and opportunities in Europe and beyond.
Our latest guide demystifies the technical aspects of implementing SEPA Instant Payments.
Get up to speed on SEPA Instant Payments by downloading your copy today.
Shield your payments processing
Could a stand-in module help?
Protect your downstream payments and cover against downtime while ensuring a high accuracy of instant payments. Find out how stand-in processing can help you prepare.
Banks have a lot to consider
10 second transactions
Instant payments must be cleared within 10 seconds of the PSP receiving the service order.
Immediate execution
After clearing the transaction, the funds should be readily available within the recipient’s account.
24/7 availability
Your users must be able to utilise instant payments 24/7, including at times when your bank’s staff are not available.
Currency conversions
Platforms must be capable of handling the exchange of currencies within this 10 second window.
Notification to payer
Upon completion, the payer should receive a notification alerting them of their successful payment.
Handling bulk payment files
In the case of multiple orders, it is the PSPs responsibility to schedule time of receipt for each order, which are determined after unpacking.
Rejections and refunds
Platforms should be capable of denying and returning transaction sums in the event of denial or no confirmation.
Compliance and liability
PSPs must maintain the 10 second speed of service, or encounter penalties for non-compliance.
APP fraud
With the removal of the €100,000 limit, PSPs must be vigilant against a new frontier of authorised-push-payment (APP) fraud.
Scalability
The platform you install today must be able to cope with the scale of instant payments in the future.
Sanctions screening
PSPs screen their customers European embargo lists daily, and to be able to respond immediately to new sanctions.
Verification of Payee
PSPs must implement a secure and standardised Verification of Payee (VoP) service. This ensures transactions can be verified for legitimacy in real-time.
How RedCompass Labs can help
Global payments experts
Why choose RedCompass Labs?
We’ve helped some of the biggest banks on the planet embrace the future of payments.
22+
years in payments modernization
24
countries
200+
years combined banking experience
500+
successful projects
What our clients say
“RedCompass Labs’ technology has enabled us to modernise our payments systems to keep up with the rapid pace of change, without undertaking costly, challenging and complex IT projects.
Ian Povey
CIO Payments Technology, Natwest
Get ready for SEPA Instant Payments with RedCompass Labs
Whatever your needs, our team is on hand to support you.