Despite the industry’s constant longing for anything and everything instant, this scenario has struggled to play out in what is still a highly fragmented market. So much so that right now, only around one in 10 of all euro credit transfers in the EU are processed as instant payments.
Regulators are actively recognising room for improvement, and naturally at the heart of the push for better are the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the European Payments Council.
Picking up the pace
The European Payments Council first introduced its system for facilitating instant payments – those that can be settled within 10 seconds or less of an order being made – through its SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme (SCT Inst), which launched in November 2017.
