Intended to accelerate the roll-out of instant payments, new rules are slated to be introduced by the European Commission (EC) in the form of amendments to the Single Euro Payments Area regulation and those for cross-border payments.
The proposals for a shift to instant payments will help both businesses and consumers, according to EC commissioner for financial services Mairead McGuinness. “We need this to accelerate the roll-out of instant payments in the EU. Moving from ‘next day’ transfers to ‘ten seconds’ transfers is seismic and comparable to the move from mail to email,” she said in a statement.