SEPA real-time payments scheme goes live
Written by Anthony Strzalek
21/11/2017
The SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme has officially launched, going live with nearly 600 payment service providers (PSPs) from eight European countries.
The scheme, created by the European Payments Council, brings real-time electronic money transfers to the continent, allowing payments of up to €15,000 to be made in less than 10 seconds any time and on any day of the year, including weekends and holidays.
A total of 585 PSPs participating in the SCT Inst scheme are located in eight European countries: Austria, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Spain.
Customers from these PSPs – individuals, businesses, corporations and administrations – can now make and receive instant euro credit transfers within their national borders as well as cross-border, with the funds being immediately available.
The geographical scope of SCT Inst will progressively span over 34 European countries. More PSPs from major European countries are expected to join the scheme in 2018 and 2019. Among them are PSPs from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden.
The new scheme is convenient for individuals who need to urgently send money to a relative, or to pay for a product or service that requires on-the-spot settlement for example.
The European Payments Council will regularly review the maximum amount per transaction starting from November 2018.
