EU Eyes Requiring PSPs to Offer Instant Euro Payments

The European Commission is preparing to publish a draft payment law on Wednesday that will require payment service providers to offer 24/7 instant euro payment services, Reuters reported Tuesday (Oct. 25).

Currently, Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) instant payment rails have been beset by slow adoption and low uptake in some countries. As PYMNTS has previously reported, in Q1 2022, instant transactions accounted for less than 12% of all SEPA credit payments. As of June 2022, the ratio of SEPA Instant Credit Transactions versus regular SEPA Credit Transactions ranges from 100% instant in Slovenia to only 1% instant in Norway and Switzerland.

Read on: What’s the Holdup With SEPA Instant Payments?

Given the existing SEPA infrastructure, it is the most accessible real-time euro payment solution for most SEPA banks.

According to the report, the new rules form part of the bloc’s policy of “fostering the development of competitive home-grown and pan-European market-based payments solutions.”

“Payment service providers (PSPs) that provide credit transfers in euro will be required to offer the service of sending and receiving IPs in euro. The requirement would cover 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” the draft said.

The draft also proposes that a cross-border euro IP should be priced at the same or a lower level than a corresponding regular cross-border euro credit transfer, Reuters reports.

The draft sets out a deadline for PSPs to be able to receive instant payments in euros within six months of the new rules coming into force. They would have to be able to send euro-denominated instant payments within a year. Banks outside the eurozone would have longer to comply.

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