How long does an instant payment take?
An instant payment reaches the payee’s account in a few seconds. In Europe, the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme makes funds available in less than ten seconds, and the service runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including weekends and holidays.
In detail
An instant payment reaches the payee's account in a few seconds. In Europe, the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme makes funds available in less than ten seconds, and the service runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including weekends and holidays.
What makes it different
A standard bank transfer can take until the next business day, and longer over weekends. Instant payments settle in real time, and both the payer and the payee get confirmation within seconds. The money is final once credited.
Similar systems elsewhere
Many countries run their own instant payment systems, such as Pix in Brazil, UPI in India, Faster Payments in the UK and RTP and FedNow in the US. Speeds are comparable, but rules, limits and use cases differ by system.
Why merchants care
For merchants, instant payments bring immediate funds, lower costs than many card payments in some markets, and no chargebacks. They also bring new expectations: refunds must be handled by transfer, and checkout flows must confirm payment in real time.
What it means for payment operators
Instant payments are payment rails to activate per market. On the platform, they connect through contracts with providers that support them, appear at checkout under your brand and flow into the same reporting and reconciliation as card payments.