Euro Area · Account Transfer · Est. 2017
Pan-European instant credit transfer scheme enabling payments across 36 SEPA countries in under 10 seconds, 24/7/365. Transactions clear through the ECB's TIPS platform or EBA Clearing's RT1 system, with a maximum amount of €100,000. The EU's Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) mandates all eurozone banks to offer SCT Inst by 2025, dramatically expanding reach. Built on ISO 20022, it represents the largest cross-border instant payment zone in the world by number of participating countries. Wero, the digital wallet launched by the European Payments Initiative (EPI) in 2024, runs on SCT Inst rails — Wero transactions are included in these figures.
SEPA Instant is Euro Area’s real-time payment system (Account Transfer), launched in 2017. Pan-European instant credit transfer scheme enabling payments across 36 SEPA countries in under 10 seconds, 24/7/365.
SEPA Instant processed 4.5 billion transactions worth $1.4tn in 2025, a year-on-year change of +87.5%.
SEPA Instant is operated by ECB, with instant settlement.
SEPA Instant launched in 2017, and today has 2,000 participating institutions.
SEPA Instant supports request-to-pay, ISO 20022 messaging.
Data source: ECB.
| Capability | Status |
|---|---|
| QR Code Payments | — |
| Wallet Support | — |
| 24/7 Availability | ✓ |
| Cross-Border | ✓ |
| ISO 20022 | ✓ |
| Request to Pay | ✓ |
| Open API | ◐ |
| Alias/Proxy | ◐ |