Can an operator add instant payments through its card acquiring integration?

Not usually. Instant payment schemes are account-to-account flows, not card flows, so they need their own connections, settlement logic and reconciliation. Each front-end scheme, such as Wero, Bizum or Blik, is a separate connection on shared settlement rails, which is why a PSP serving cross-border merchants needs several connections rather than one.

Different rails

Card acquiring moves authorization and clearing messages through Visa and Mastercard. Instant payments move credit transfers through SEPA Instant or domestic schemes, initiated by the payer's bank. The two share nothing technically: no authorization step, no card number, no chargeback, different settlement and different reconciliation. An acquiring integration cannot carry instant payments.

What instant payments need

• A connection to a provider that participates in the scheme, or to the front-end scheme itself.
• Request or redirect flows for the payer to approve the transfer in their banking app.
• Matching of incoming transfers to orders, since there is no authorization to confirm.
• Settlement logic for funds that arrive in seconds on a collection account.

Why several connections

The settlement rails are shared, but the front-end schemes differ by country: Wero in France, Belgium and Germany, Bizum in Spain, Blik in Poland, iDEAL in the Netherlands. Each is a separate connection with its own rules. A PSP serving cross-border merchants needs several, which is where a payment network with those providers already connected saves the integration work.