Thursday, 9 October 2025 will see the full roll-out of instant payments in euros, as this is the date from which banks are required to execute them in accordance with the Instant Payments Regulation (IPR ). The aim of the IPR is to increase the accessibility, effectiveness and security of instant payments, while it also brings significant innovations for all payment service users, i.e. consumers, merchants, businesses and government bodies. Henceforth instant payments between commercial banks and savings banks in the euro area will be executed in seconds, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, without exception.
In light of the main benefit of instant payments – the immediate availability of the money to the payee for spending or investing, and the consequent release of cash in the average amount of EUR 200 billion otherwise trapped in the financial system – the IPR represents a major step towards the realisation of one of the objectives of the Eurosystem’s retail payments strategy.
The IPR imposes the following key requirements:
(i) an obligation to receive and send instant payments on the part of payment service providers,
(ii) the equalisation of charges for instant payments with those for ordinary credit transfers,
(iii) two fraud prevention measures: mandatory verification of payee, and the ability for users to set limits, and
(iv) changes in the implementation of restrictive measures during the execution of instant payments.
The implementation of the new rules therefore brings innovations that will affect the user experience. Instant payments are rejected if the transaction cannot be executed within ten seconds, or if the data of the payer or payee matches that on the lists of restrictive measures.
It should be reiterated that the payment service provider is not liable for the transfer of funds to the wrong payee if it has correctly performed the verification of payee , as in this case the risk and consequences of any errors or fraud are borne by the payer.
Banka Slovenije’s role
Under the Payment Services, Electronic Money Issuance Services and Payment Systems Act (ZPlaSSIED), Banka Slovenije is responsible for supervising compliance with the regulations governing payment services. Accordingly we will expand the regular supervision of payment service providers within the framework of our remit to cover compliance with the requirements introduced by the IPR.
With the aim of ensuring that budget spending units are granted the same conditions in making payments as those provided by the IPR for all other payment service users, Banka Slovenije will also work to implement its requirements. Banka Slovenije acts as a payment service provider for the public sector, as proceeds from the Bank of Slovenia Act. Two new services will now be available to budget spending units, namely sending instant payments and payee verification.
History of the roll-out of instant payments
The first steps towards what will become a reality in the next few days were made in 2014, when the ECB called on payment service providers to explore the possibility of setting up a pan-European scheme for instant payments.The next milestones were (i) the agreement reached in 2017 by payment service providers under the aegis of the European Payments Council on the pan-European scheme for instant credit transfers in euros (SEPA SCT Inst), and (ii) the establishment in 2018 of the Eurosystem infrastructure for instant payments (TARGET Instant Payment System or TIPS), which allows for the settlement of instant payments in euros.
Given the lack of sufficient activity on the market and its slow transition to instant payments, in October 2022 the European Commission proposed a legislative intervention: the Instant Payments Regulation, which was adopted in March 2024, and finally begins its application in most areas on 9 October 2025. The IPR’s provisions regarding reporting by payment service providers begin to be applied in 2026. The provisions regarding payment institutions and electronic money institutions located in Member States that are part of the euro area, and regarding all payment service providers located in Member States that are not part of the euro area then begin to be applied in 2027.