What are instant payments and what are their benefits?
Instant payments are a relatively new type of credit transfer responding to the needs of an increasingly digitalised society. They allow funds to be transferred in a matter of seconds, at any time, day or night, and any day of the year.
Instant payments are used increasingly worldwide. They represent a major technological innovation in payments, which allows the releasing of funds that are locked in the ‘back-office’ of the financial system in order to make them immediately available to end users – citizens and businesses in the EU, including SMEs – for consumption and investment, contributing to economic growth. Instant payments are a very powerful driver of competition and innovation, notably when combined with open banking (i.e. allowing consumers to share their payment data with third-party providers in a safe and secure way in order to avail of…
