The European Payments Council (EPC) has announced that its Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme has gone live.
Nearly 585 payment service providers (PSPs) from Austria, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Spain have come together to support the launch of the SCT Inst scheme.
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Now, customers of these PSPs – individuals, businesses, corporations and administrations – will be able to transfer up to €15,000 in less than ten seconds round the clock including weekends and holidays, across borders.
PSPs from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden are expected to join in 2018 and 2019.
The geographical scope of SCT Inst will gradually increase to more than 34 European countries, the EPC said.
The European Payments Council chairman Javier Santamaría said: “With its numerous advantages, the SCT Inst scheme fully anchors European payments in the anywhere, anytime digital world.
“SCT Inst is the only regional initiative of this kind in the world. The European payment community can be proud of the work achieved to make instant euro credit transfers a reality today.”
“I can only encourage PSPs who have not joined SCT Inst yet to do it as soon as possible. This enhanced European payments integration will have tremendous benefits for European consumers and businesses alike.”
