The European Parliament approved new rules to ensure that transferred funds reach retail and business customers' bank accounts within 10 seconds across the EU.

The aim of the legislation is to ensure that individual bank customers and businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), do not have to wait for their money to be credited to their accounts, while also enhancing the security of banking payments. Banks and other payment service providers must ensure that fund transfers are economically accessible and processed immediately.

The text, which has already been agreed with the EU Member States (MS), updates the existing rules for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), it is stated. The new rules will come into effect 20 days after their publication in the Official Journal of the EU, and MS will have 12 months to implement the regulation.

As stated, euro transfers will be executed immediately (regardless of the day or time the order is given), and the money must reach the recipient's account within ten seconds. The payer should also be informed within the same period whether the transferred funds have been made available to the beneficiary.

It is noted that MS not part of the Eurozone will need to apply the rules for accounts already offering regular euro transactions after a longer transition period. There will be a special exception from making payments within ten seconds for such accounts when the order is given outside working hours, given potential concerns about access to foreign exchange liquidity, it is mentioned.

Regarding consumer security, it is stated that payment service providers must implement robust and up-to-date detection and prevention measures to avoid transferring amounts to the wrong account due to fraud or error. "For this purpose, providers operating in the EU must immediately, without additional charges or fees, provide services for verifying the identity of the beneficiary," it is noted.

As an additional safety measure, "providers should allow their customers to set the maximum amount they wish for instant euro transfers, which can be easily modified before the next transaction."

If a provider fails to fulfill its duties to prevent fraud resulting in financial damage, the customer will be able to seek compensation, according to the new rules.

Providers offering instant money transfers must also verify whether any customer is subject to sanctions or other restrictive measures related to the legalization of proceeds from illegal activities and the financing of terrorism.

It is noted that charges imposed by providers for immediate euro transactions cannot be higher than the charges applied to similar non-immediate transactions.