Legislative proposal on instant payments

The Commission adopted today a legislative proposal to make instant payments in euro, available to all citizens and businesses holding a bank account in the EU and in EEA countries. The proposal aims to ensure that instant payments in euro are affordable, secure, and processed without hindrance across the EU.

Instant payments allow people to transfer money at any time of any day within ten seconds. This is much faster compared to traditional credit transfers, which are received by payment service providers only during business hours and arrive at the payee’s account only by the following business day, which could take up to three calendar days.

This proposal aims to remove the barriers that prevent instant payments and their benefits to become more widespread.

More information

• Press release
• Frequently asked questions
• Timeline of the initiative and stakeholder's feedback
• Text of the proposal
• Impact assessment accompanying the proposal
• Summary of the impact assessment accompanying the proposal
• Factsheet: Instant payments
• Remarks by Commissioner McGuinness at the press conference
• Remarks by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis at the press conference
• Watch the press conference