Bank transfers & instant payments · Available
SEPA Instant
SEPA Instant (SCT Inst) is the European Payments Council's instant credit transfer scheme, live since November 2017: a euro transfer between participating banks completes in up to ten seconds, any day and hour. Since October 2025 banks in the euro area must send and receive instant payments at no more than the price of a regular transfer, which makes it the fastest euro rail for pay-ins and payouts, with no chargebacks.
Key facts
- Currencies
- EUR
- Operations
- Pay-in · Payout · Refund
- Settlement
- instant
- Chargebacks
- not possible
How a payment goes through
- 1The checkout shows the account details, the amount and a reference
- 2The payer sends the transfer from their banking app
- 3The provider matches the incoming transfer by reference and amount
- 4Webhook to the merchant; unmatched transfers are refunded
How a payment goes through
- The checkout offers “Pay by bank”: the payer picks their bank, or sees the provider’s IBAN and a reference.
- The payer approves the transfer in the banking app with strong customer authentication.
- The bank sends the SEPA Instant transfer; the provider confirms within seconds.
- Tranzify writes the result and calls the merchant’s webhook.
SEPA Instant against classic SEPA and cards
| SEPA Instant | Classic SEPA (SCT) | Cards | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scheme | EPC SCT Inst, since 2017 | EPC SCT, since 2008 | Visa, Mastercard |
| Speed | up to 10 seconds, 24/7/365 | next business day | authorisation now, settlement T+1 and later |
| Chargebacks | none | none | scheme rules |
| Payouts | yes, to any euro IBAN, at once | yes, on business days | push to card, limited |
| Mandatory for euro-area banks | since 2025 (Instant Payments Regulation) | yes | — |
Payouts and refunds
Payouts go to any euro IBAN through TrueLayer, Volt or Sgate and arrive within seconds. Refunds return to the payer’s IBAN through the same provider that took the payment. Recurring charges are not part of the scheme; for subscriptions the catalogue has cards.
Who uses it
Marketplaces and fintechs for seller and customer payouts that arrive the same minute, SaaS and e-commerce for a card-free checkout in euro, forex brokers for deposits and withdrawals without waiting for a card settlement.
How to connect
- 1Onboard with Tranzify and get your network, keys and back office.
- 2Enter your account with the provider in the terminal settings — Tranzify already speaks its API.
- 3Add routing rules: countries, currencies, amounts, BIN ranges, priorities and weights.
- 4Go live. Every payment, callback and retry is in the journal for five years.
Providers offering this method
Industries
Terms
Frequently asked questions
Is there a limit per transfer?+
Which countries are covered?+
Who is the licensed party?+
Related methods
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