SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst)
SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) is the European Payments Council scheme for euro credit transfers that reach the payee's account within seconds, 24 hours a day, every day. The EU's Instant Payments Regulation makes sending and receiving instant euro payments mandatory for payment service providers, on a phased timetable.
Jurisdiction: European Union and EEA: EPC SCT Inst rulebook (2025 version, in effect from 5 October 2025) and Regulation (EU) 2024/886, with euro area bank deadlines of 9 January 2025 (receive) and 9 October 2025 (send and verification of payee).
How it works
The EPC published the SCT Inst rulebook in November 2016 and the scheme went live in November 2017. Under the 2025 rulebook, in effect since 5 October 2025, the payer's provider, the payee's provider and the clearing system have nine seconds in total. There is no scheme maximum amount, though each provider can set its own limits.
Regulation (EU) 2024/886 sets a legal ceiling of 10 seconds. Euro area banks had to receive instant euro payments by 9 January 2025 and send them by 9 October 2025, and to offer verification of payee by 9 October 2025. Instant transfers cannot cost more than standard credit transfers. Providers in non-euro member states, and payment and e-money institutions, follow later deadlines in 2027.
Instead of screening each instant payment against EU sanctions lists, providers must check their own customers at least once every calendar day and immediately after new measures take effect. In the second half of 2025, instant transfers were 25% of the number and 8% of the value of credit transfers processed by euro area retail payment systems, according to the ECB.
Example
A payout firm sends EUR 40,000 to a supplier in Spain on a Sunday, and the funds land within seconds. Its euro balance drops at once. If its next euro top-up comes from a dollar conversion that settles on Tuesday, it must hold enough euros to cover Sunday and Monday payouts.
Frequently asked questions
What is verification of payee?
A check that the payee's name matches the account identifier before the payer authorises a transfer. Under the regulation it is free of charge, and euro area providers had to offer it by 9 October 2025.
Is there a maximum SCT Inst amount?
Not at scheme level since the 2025 rulebook. Each provider can set its own transaction limits.
Where Polynopsis fits
Polynopsis shows euro balances at banks and partners next to the payouts expected against them, so instant euro payouts do not run a corridor dry overnight.
Related terms
Sources
- SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) · European Payments Council
- Regulation (EU) 2024/886 on instant credit transfers in euro · EUR-Lex, Publications Office of the European Union
- Payments statistics: second half of 2025 · European Central Bank
Know where all your money is.
Polynopsis gives cross-border payment teams one live position across every bank, payout partner, exchange and wallet, including money in flight, and warns before a corridor runs dry.
About Polynopsis
Polynopsis is liquidity management software for cross-border payment companies. The name joins poly, many, and synopsis, a seeing together: one live view of money spread across many banks, payout partners, exchanges and stablecoin wallets, including money in flight, with a warning before any corridor runs dry.
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