Sepa Instant Payments

Where are we right now?

SEPA Instant payments – Incoming

SMBC offices in Belgium, France, and Germany are all enabled to receive incoming SCT Instant payments and have been offering the facility to process these transactions since May 2025.   We also remain able to send and receive SCT payments.  

Verification of Payee

The SEPA Rulebook 2025 mandates all SEPA - SCT and SCT Instant- payments made online to be scanned by the “Verification of Payee” (VoP) scheme, to ensure the Payee Name and Account Number (IBAN) match before a payment instruction is sent to the Payment Service Provider.  VoP helps to enhance the safety and reliability of payments within SEPA. 

SMBC aims to deliver this service in our online customer payment channels later this year.

SEPA Instant payments – Outgoing

SMBC is developing the ability to enable customers to initiate outgoing SEPA Instant payments through our various customer channels across our SMBC offices in Belgium, France, and Germany.    The service release date is likely to be in Q1 2026 and we will provide further updates in due course.  

Further information on SEPA Instant outgoing payments will be posted to this page when we approach the service release date.

What's Next?

SMBC is to introduce the SEPA Verification of Payee (VoP) features in 2025.

How does VoP work between banks? 

The EPC scheme requires mandatory adherence for SCT and SCT Inst participant banks.  The banks registration to the EPC Directory Service (EDC) will allow the banks to reach out to each other, confirming the payee details.

How does VoP work in online banking?

In E-Moneyger®, real-time VoP will be performed on all SEPA payments.  By default, Payee Name and IBAN are verified but it is possible to opt for Payee Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) and IBAN too.  You will have the options to proceed or stop the payments after reviewing the VoP result.  

Will payments be put on hold while VoP is performed?

No.  The verification happens within a few seconds, and as it is before the payment authorisation, it will not be put on hold in any way.

What kind of VoP results I might see?

There are 4 standard VoP responses:-

1. Match – Payee Name and IBAN have matched
2. No Match – Payee Name and IBAN do not match
3. Close Match – Payee Name submitted is very similar to the correct name
4. Verification Not Possible  - Verification could not be performed

What is a “VoP Not possible” response?

“Verification Not possible” can occur in the following cases:

1. The payee bank does not support VoP, or is not reachable
2. The payee account is closed, although VoP cannot check the account status
3. The request format is invalid
4. The IBAN format is incorrect
5. Other technical issues

Further information on VoP will be shared with our customers as we approach the service release date.

FAQs

How do I recognise the transaction as SEPA Instant Payment on my Account statements?

Incoming SEPA Instant Payments can be recognised by the Transaction Code “PMNT-ICDT-ESCT” followed by the Description “Instant Payment Receive Credit”, in your account statements.

We will value date SEPA Instant transactions on the calendar date on which they are executed. When an incoming SEPA Instant Payment arrives outside normal business hours, this will appear on your account on the next business day with the receipt date as the Value Date.

Why is the UK not included in the April 2025 release?

The regulation has set out different implementation times for credit institutions / banks (CIs) and payment institutions (PIs), and for payment service providers (PSPs) located in the Eurozone (i.e. Member States where the official currency is the euro) and in Member States outside of the Eurozone (when processing euro payments).  Non-Euro denominated jurisdictions participating in SEPA are not in scope until 2027. 

Is there a maximum transaction limit amount set for receiving SEPA Instant Payments?

The current limit of EUR100K will remain until SMBC is in a position to review this amount.

Can I continue to send and receive non-Instant SCT payments?

Yes, existing SCT payment method will continue to be supported.

Are there any fees associated with SEPA Instant Payments?

Fees for SEPA Instant Payments will be the same as current SCT payments, there will be no change to charges.  

Are SEPA Instant Payments secure? 

Yes, SEPA Instant Payments adhere to the same security standards as traditional SEPA payments, ensuring secure and reliable transactions.

What happens if a SEPA Instant Payment fails?

If a SEPA Instant Payment fails, the funds are typically returned to the sender's account immediately. Common reasons for failure include exceeding transaction limits or the recipient's bank not supporting instant payments.

Is it allowed to reroute the SEPA Instant failed transaction in the traditional SEPA Payments?

Yes, in case if the failure is due to exceeding limit or recipients unavailability in the scheme, then Originator can still reinitiate the payment through traditional SEPA Payments.

Does this impact my cash pooling arrangement?

Because SEPA instant payment is available 24/7/365, SMBC could receive the SEPA instant payment before or after pooling has been processed. The balance will be added to the next cash pooling transfer.

For further details on SEPA Instant Payments, please refer to:

CMS Help Desk (Email:emoneygerhelpdesk@gb.smbcgroup.com)