EPC launches public consultation on SEPA instant payments scheme
SEPA
The European Payments Council (EPC) has launched a public consultation on the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme.
EPC says the proposed scheme is the “first in the world to be interoperable in a region as large as SEPA and is a response to European customer needs for faster payments”.
It adds that it will be a “turning point in making pan-European instant credit transfers in euro a reality”.
The EPC wants payment service providers (PSPs), end users and “technical players” to participate in the three-month public consultation.
Key features of the optional SCT Inst scheme:
- The geographical scope spans 34 countries within the current SEPA schemes.
- It is based “as much as possible” on the existing SEPA Credit Transfer scheme.
- It applies to credit transfers made in euros, up to an initial maximum amount of €15,000 per transaction.
- The money will be available on the account of the payee within ten seconds.
- Individual scheme participants can agree bilaterally or multilaterally (e.g., within a specific SEPA country) on a lower maximum execution time and/or a higher maximum amount if they wish.
- All adhering scheme participants will have to be technically capable to process the SCT Inst transactions on a 24/7/365 basis.
How to participate in the public consultation?
The draft rulebook, the response template, and the instructions to participate in the public consultation are available on the EPC website. The public consultation ends on 10 July.
What will happen once the public consultation is closed?
The EPC says it will review the comments received during the public consultation, in “close collaboration with stakeholder representatives”.
The finalised scheme rulebook will be published by the EPC in November 2016 and will be implemented one year later.
In November 2017, all live scheme participants will be ready to propose the first SCT Inst transaction solutions based on the finalised EPC SCT Inst scheme to their customers in Europe.
The EPC says this “short” period between the publication of the scheme and the first SCT Inst transactions demonstrates the payment industry’s “confidence in PSPs to adapt well to customers’ needs, and quickly implement major changes”.
