What the ten seconds mean
You press send on a Sunday night. Under Regulation (EU) 2024/886, the recipient’s bank then has 10 seconds from the moment your bank received the order to put the money in the account and confirm it, and if that confirmation does not arrive in time your bank must restore your balance at once.
The scheme is stricter than the law. On its SCT Inst page, the European Payments Council gives the banks and the clearing system nine seconds, and it no longer sets any maximum amount. Banks may still cap transfers. So may you, because Article 5a(6) lets a customer fix a daily or per-payment limit and change it at any time.
How far it reached by November 2026
How common is it now? The EPC’s scheme page, read on November 8, 2026, answers with a chart of the instant share of all SEPA credit transfers, year by year.
By the page’s own chart, instant payments made up an estimated 39.76% of SEPA credit transfers in the third quarter of 2026. In 2024 the share was 20.92%. Then came 2025, the year of the regulation’s first deadlines, and 33.71%.
| Providers located | Must receive instant euro transfers by | Must send them by |
|---|---|---|
| Euro area, banks and most other providers | January 9, 2025 | October 9, 2025 |
| Euro area, e-money and payment institutions | April 9, 2027 | April 9, 2027 |
| Outside the euro area, banks and most other providers | January 9, 2027 | July 9, 2027 |
Outside the euro area, e-money and payment institutions get until April 9, 2027 to receive and July 9, 2027 to send.
Priced like any other transfer
Many people still assume speed costs extra. Article 5b(1) says charges for instant transfers “shall not be higher” than a provider’s charges for other credit transfers of the same type, a rule in force in the euro area since January 9, 2025.
Exchange Kraken’s withdrawal page, last updated November 4, 2026, shows the two side by side. A standard SEPA withdrawal through Banking Circle costs 1 EUR and takes up to five business days, while Instant SEPA through the same processor also costs 1 EUR.
Kraken adds that it cannot control banks’ compliance checks, which “may occasionally extend processing times.” A withdrawal fee is only one cost of an off-ramp, since the sale before it carries its own trading fee or spread.
The name check before you confirm
Since October 9, 2025, payment providers in the euro area have had to run a payee check before you authorize a transfer. Article 5c compares the IBAN you typed with the name of the account holder.
When the two almost match, the bank shows you the real name, and when they do not, it warns that the money may land in someone else’s account. The check is free under Article 5b(2). Read the warning before pressing send, because an instant payment leaves your account within seconds.