# SCT Inst

> SEPA Instant Credit Transfer

The instant SEPA credit transfer: under 10 seconds, 24/7, up to €100,000. Mandatory across the eurozone since 2025. It is the new standard for European payments.

_Category: technique_

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## Definition

**SCT Inst** (_SEPA Instant Credit Transfer_) is the instant SEPA credit transfer: a euro transfer executed in under 10 seconds, 24/7/365.

The per-transaction ceiling was raised to €100,000 in July 2020, then removed at scheme level with the 2025 rulebook. Since the Instant Payments Regulation (EU 2024/886), it is mandatory for all eurozone banks and free for individuals, at the same price as a classic SCT.

## SCT Inst vs SCT: the break in 4 points

- **Speed**: under 10 seconds, versus up to one business day.
- **Availability**: 24/7, including nights and weekends.
- **Ceiling**: €100,000 since 2020 (€15,000 at the start), scheme ceiling removed in 2025.
- **Confirmation**: payer and payee both receive immediate confirmation of execution.

## The Instant Payments Regulation: 2 dates in 2025

- **9 January 2025** — all eurozone banks must be able to _receive_ an SCT Inst.
- **9 October 2025** — they must be able to _send_ an SCT Inst, at the price of a classic SCT (so free for individuals) and with VoP mandatory.

Banks outside the eurozone (Sweden, Poland, Romania) get extended deadlines, up to 2027 for some.

## How it works

Two pan-European systems dominate the infrastructure: EBA RT1 (EBA Clearing, private) and TIPS (_TARGET Instant Payment Settlement_, ECB, public). A bank must join at least one of the two, which are interoperable.

## What SCT Inst additionally requires

- **VoP mandatory** since October 2025: the payer's bank checks the name/IBAN match with the payee's bank and warns of any discrepancy.
- **24/7 availability**: a major architecture undertaking (the end of nightly batches and maintenance windows).
- **Graduated sanctions** for non-compliance, especially after October 2025.

## What SCT Inst does not change

- **EUR only**: no instant transfers in USD, GBP or CHF via SEPA.
- **Irrevocable**: once executed, just as final as a classic SCT — faster, so less window to cancel.
- **Always under SCA** when initiated online by a PSU.
- **Not reserved for PISPs**: anyone can make one from their bank's app.

## In the PSD2 ecosystem

SCT Inst is the fuel for new use cases: without it, no merchant payment by PISP at checkout, no efficient P2P, no instant-debit subscription. It is the building block that finally makes Open Banking competitive with cards.

```mermaid
flowchart TB
    PAYEUR["Payer (PAO)"]
    APP["Initiating app\n(bank or PISP)"]
    ASPSP_P["Payer's ASPSP"]
    VOP["VOP check\n(IBAN ↔ name)"]
    SYS["Real-time system\nEBA RT1 / TIPS"]
    ASPSP_R["Payee's ASPSP"]
    PR["Payee (PR)"]

    PAYEUR -->|"1. Initiate + SCA"| APP
    APP --> ASPSP_P
    ASPSP_P -->|"2. VOP mandatory"| VOP
    VOP -->|"OK / discrepancy"| ASPSP_P
    ASPSP_P -->|"3. Submits"| SYS
    SYS -->|"4. Routes < 10s"| ASPSP_R
    ASPSP_R -->|"5. Credits"| PR
    ASPSP_R -.->|"6. Immediate confirmation"| ASPSP_P
    ASPSP_P -.->|"7. Notification"| PAYEUR
```

## Concrete examples

- **Merchant payment**: at Decathlon via Fintecture, the merchant gets confirmation before you have left the page — 0% unpaid, near-zero fees. This is what threatens cards in some verticals.
- **P2P**: €50 sent to a friend via Lydia, Lyf or your bank's instant transfer, credited in 2 to 8 seconds.
- **Urgent B2B collection**: with GoCardless Instant Bank Pay or Bridge, an SME is credited the same day rather than at 60 days.
- **Emergency salary**: some HR platforms (PayFit, Lucca) can pay a salary on a Sunday evening — unthinkable before.
- **Cost for banks**: moving to real-time 24/7 cost the European banking system several hundred million euros over 2023–2025.
- **Fraud risk**: irrevocable and immediate, SCT Inst fuels APP scams, hence mandatory VoP. The PSR creates a right to a refund only for a customer manipulated by someone posing as their bank (art. 59, provisional numbering of the April 2026 compromise).
- **Implementation**: a PISP must handle the `INST` flag (in STET or Berlin Group); not all banks support it yet for sending in 2025, a situation that is being resolved by 2026.

## Sources

- [Regulation (EU) 2024/886 (Instant Payments Regulation)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ%3AL_202400886) — EUR-Lex, 2024-03-19
- [SCT Inst maximum amount raised to EUR 100,000](https://thepaypers.com/fintech/news/a-new-maximum-amount-for-the-sepa-instant-credit-transfer-stc-inst-scheme-is-live) — The Paypers / EPC, 2020-07-01
- [SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme — EPC](https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/what-we-do/sepa-instant-credit-transfer) — European Payments Council

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Source: https://openfinanceguide.com/en/glossary/sct-inst