From January 9, financial institutions in the euro area will be required to accept instant payments within seconds. Acceleration of financial flows is thus supposed to replace standard payments. Peter Holička, director of the payment systems department of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), drew attention to this on Wednesday.
In addition, banks will be obliged to support their sending by October 9. “In practice, this means that the money will be debited from your account within ten seconds of making the payment. It will also be credited to the account of the person to whom you are sending the money within ten seconds,” stated Holička, stating that this acceleration of financial flows will benefit consumers as well as companies and entrepreneurs.
He added that instant payments will be the new standard for payments in eurozone countries, gradually replacing standard payments. The NBS clarified that their introduction was necessary to unify the provision of immediate payments in euro across different countries. Payments can thus be made in real time even across borders.
The regulation on immediate payments also applies to all banks in Slovakia from January 9. “According to our information, Slovenská sporiteľňa, Tatrabanka, VÚB Banka, J&T Banka, Fio banka, Prima banka and Oberbank currently provide sending and receiving of immediate payments,” explained the NBS. Holička added that the largest banks in Slovakia started providing instant payments already at the beginning of 2022.
The amount of the client fee for immediate payment is determined by the NBS bank. However, it should not be higher than the bank charges for a standard SEPA payment. “According to European legislation, every bank that currently provides standard SEPA payments will also have to provide immediate SEPA payments. However, this does not mean that standard payments are ending. It will be up to each client to decide which form of payment they choose. The bank will offer him both options, with the fact that it will be up to him to decide whether to choose a standard payment or an immediate payment,” NBS concluded.
