• What is the expected impact of the new SEPA instant payments mandate?
• What do banks need to do to prepare and what challenges are they facing?
• What consequences will banks and PSPs face for non-compliance?
• What is the payment landscape going to look like 12-24 months from now?

In early November 2023, the European Parliament announced the new mandate for SEPA instant payments, designed to increase the uptake of instant credit transfers and to facilitate access to these services for consumers and businesses in the Eurozone. At the moment, uncertainty persists about the specifics of the requirements as well as the attached timelines to comply.

The mandate is expected to come into effect at the end of 2024, yet the question remains whether banks are ready. Fragmentation across the Eurozone is significant, and while certain markets have already embraced instant payments (i.e., Denmark, the Netherlands), many other markets (i.e., France, Germany) will have their work cut out in order to be ready to achieve compliance.

At the moment, SEPA is a patchwork of diverse payment behaviours and needs, connected through mismatched payments systems. Markets and institutions are in need of modernisation of the payment journey to prevent the setbacks which arise from a lack of or rudimentary implementation.
Many banks and PSPs will use the new mandate to innovate their payments systems, whether in-house or by outsourcing to SaaS providers, yet there will also be many that will not. What consequences PSPs will face for non-compliance remains to be determined.

Register for this Finextra webinar, hosted in association with Volante Technologies, to join our panel of industry experts who will discuss the impact of the upcoming SEPA instant payments mandate as well as the challenges that banks face on their payments modernisation journey.