The European Payments Council (EPC) has published an update on the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme, which is due to go live on 21 November 2017.

The scheme is designed to enable individuals, businesses, corporates and administrations to make instant euro credit transfers between accounts across an international area that will progressively span 34 European countries. The EPC believes that the implementation of the new scheme will progressively change payments and how consumers use them.

PSPs from Austria, Spain, Finland, Italy and Latvia are expected to adhere to SCT Inst by November 2017, with those from Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Sweden and some from the Netherlands will join SCT Inst in 2018.

Regarding Clearing and Settlement Mechanisms (CSMs), the EPC have confirmed that seven large CSMs will be able to support SCT Inst transactions from November 2017 onwards, and expect others to announce their compliance in the coming months.

Jean-Yves Jacquelin, chairman of the EPC scheme evolution and maintenance working group, commented: “Five years after implementation, 50 per cent of the SEPA credit transfer transactions should be processed under the SCT Inst scheme. In other words, by the end of 2022, 50 per cent of all SEPA credit transfers would be instant.

“This would be a real success story. It is not impossible; it will depend on how PSPs are positioning the instant payments ‘products’ and the channels at the disposal of customers for making instant payments, which must be mobile, easy and fast. The next challenge I see is a real opportunity for cooperation between FinTechs and PSPs to make SCT Inst a success story.”

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