The SEPA Instant Payments Regulation, which applies to all payment service providers in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), entered into force in April 2024; the transition period for euro area countries will end in October 2025. This phased-in regulation will make the receiving and sending of SEPA instant credit transfers mandatory for all SEPA payment service providers. From October 2025, SEPA instant credit transfers will take under 10 seconds, on every day of the year, in an area covering 36 countries – even during public holidays and outside service hours.
In future, the payer's bank will check with the payee's bank that the payee's name, given by the payer, matches the account holder. After this Verification of Payee (VoP), the bank will report the result to the payer, who will decide on continuing with the payment. The VoP service is used for individual SEPA credit transfers in op.fi and OP's mobile apps. Use of the service for transferring payment data payloads is non-mandatory.
Checklist for businesses sending invoices
- Check that your company's official, registered name or auxiliary company name is used on any invoices you send. In addition, your company's official name should be clearly visible on your firm's website, for example. This will help customers to check your company's details.
- Encourage your customers to use e-invoices: the payer doesn't need to add information manually to e-invoices, because the payee's details are pre-completed.
- Inform your company's customer services of any forthcoming change, so that they can help customers who have questions. Remember to inform your company's consumer customers of any changes in your company's invoicing details.
- If your company directs payments to a finance company, enter the finance company's official name as the payee on the invoice.
How will companies benefit from the coming change?
Naturally, SEPA instant credit transfers will make cash management easier, with payments made in 10 seconds around the clock, on every day of the year. It will no longer take hours, or even days, for a payment to show on the payee-company's account.
Payments will still be transferred using the account number, but verification of the payee will help to prevent fraud based on misleading the payer into paying the wrong payee. Now companies and customers will find it easier to ensure that the payment transfer goes to the right payee.
However, companies should still ensure that their financial processes are secure – scammers are targeting companies, by trying to have the invoice details changed before payment is made. In the case of payment data payloads, businesses have the choice of whether to perform payee verification or not. There is therefore no mandatory requirement to change payment processes used for data payload transfers.
OP is a pioneer in SEPA instant credit transfers
OP has been making SEPA instant credit transfers for personal and corporate customers through all digital and payload channels since 2018.
For several years now, most payments made via OP have been arriving with the payee in less than 10 minutes. Since 2019, OP has been one of Europe's largest banks making SEPA instant credit transfers, in terms of payment volumes. No action from customers has been needed to gain access to the SEPA instant credit transfer service.