Key impacts of the Instant Payments Regulation on the 2023 SCT Inst Scheme Rulebook and upcoming changes
Regulation (EU) 2024/886, commonly referred to as the Instant Payments Regulation (IPR), entered into force in April 2024, bringing significant changes to the SEPA Regulation. This new regulation introduces new mandatory requirements for instant credit transfers in Euro, impacting Payment Service Providers (PSPs) located in the European Economic Area (EEA)1. „These requirements will enter into effect starting on 9 January 2025 and 9 October 2025, and initially affect credit institutions based in the Euro area.” – according to the European Payments Council.
On 23 July 2024, the Directorate‑General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG-FISMA) of the European Commission issued a set of clarifications of the IPR requirements, to facilitate the timely and consistent implementation of the Regulation.2
The clarifications issued by the EU Commission are with the understanding that in accordance with the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) the EU Court of Justice has the sole jurisdiction to interpret EU legislation.
Upon analysis of the new regulatory requirements, and taking into account the clarifications of the EU Commission, the EPC has concluded that the current 2023 SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme rulebook (version 1.2, in force since 17 March 2024) already meets the IPR requirements effective from the 9 January 2025. Thus, current and potential SCT Inst scheme participants do not need to undertake any further implementation action to remain or to become compliant with these requirements.
For the IPR obligations entering into effect on 9 October 2025, and at a later stage for Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs), Payment Institutions (PIs) and PSPs based in non-Euro countries, the EPC reminds scheme participants that the 2025 SCT Inst scheme rulebook and implementation guidelines will be published on the EPC’s website by November 2024. This version will reflect all changes necessary to ensure compliance with the abovementioned obligations, as previously communicated in May 2024.
The 2025 SCT Inst scheme rulebook, along with the four other 2025 EPC payment scheme rulebooks, will already come into effect on Sunday, 5 October 2025. On the same date, also the new EPC Verification Of Payee (VOP) scheme will enter into force. This earlier date was chosen to allow affected PSPs to meet the October 2025 deadline, as set by the IPR. Consequently, EPC payment scheme participants and their technical service providers will have a shorter timeframe to implement the 2025 rulebooks than usual.
1The EEA covers the 27 EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
2The clarifications issued by the EU Commission are with the understanding that in accordance with the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) the EU Court of Justice has the sole jurisdiction to interpret EU legislation.