Paula Albu, Junior Editor at The Paypers, shares the key takeaways from the webinar The Payments Butterfly Effect: How Instant Payments Reshape the Ecosystem.
Instant payments are no longer a nice-to-have for Europe’s financial ecosystem. Under the EU Instant Payments Regulation (IPR), SEPA Instant is moving from optional tobecoming mandatory, with final compliance deadlines approaching in 2027 for banks, PSPs, EMIs, and payment institutions across Europe.
In this webinar, Tristan Kirchner, CEO Europe at ClearBank, Nacho Garcia, Managing Partner at NURABAL, and Karine Martinez, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Wallester, joined financial journalist Joy Macknight to explore how instant payments are reshaping infrastructure, user expectations, fraud prevention, and the future of digital commerce.
SEPA Instant moves from optional to mandatory
Drawing on ClearBank’s latest white paper research, Tristan explained that over half of banks are already compliant with SEPA Instant requirements, and nearly all expect to be ready by 2027.
The research also suggests that SEPA Instant could overtake traditional SEPA credit transfer volumes by 2030.
But the challenge is not only technical. Instant payments also introduce operational pressure on fraud prevention, liquidity management, payee verification (VoP), and 24/7 resilience.
The real shift is behavioural
While regulation is accelerating adoption, the panel agreed that consumer behaviour is the bigger driver.
As Karine noted, adoption won’t happen just because the infrastructure is in place; it will happen when instant payments solve a real pain point.
The expectation for instant execution was already established by platforms like Amazon, Uber, and Revolut. Users increasingly expect payments to work in real time, regardless of what happens behind the scenes.
At the same time, many financial institutions are still working withreliant on legacy infrastructure not originally designed for real-time operations, creating a significant implementation operational gap across the market. Firms are taking are mixed approach, with some implementing new systems and processes and other looking to evolve what they currently have in place.
User experience will determine instant payment adoption
One of the webinar’s important themes was that infrastructure alone does not guarantee adoption. User experience does.
Nacho explained that Europe has already built multiple national instant payment systems, such as Bizum and Blik, which are now becoming increasingly interconnected.
The next challenge is making instant payments feel optimal while maintaining fraud controls, refunds, and operational resilience behind the scenes.
Will instant payments replace cards?
The panel’s answer was nuanced: not entirely.
The consensus was not that instant payments will eliminate cards, but that the ecosystem will become increasingly layered and interconnected.
Cards still offer advantages in consumer protection, refunds, and chargeback frameworks. Instant payments, by contrast, are irrevocable push payments that create distinct fraud and liability dynamics.
Karine argued that adoption may also be generational. Younger consumers, already accustomed to instant digital experiences, may adopt account-to-account payments more naturally than older demographics.
Nacho predicted that the industry will gradually build additional control layers on top of instant payment rails, including refund frameworks, digital identity systems, and AI-powered fraud mitigation tools.
APP fraud, reimbursement, and operational risk
Fraud remained an important theme throughout the webinar. As payment speed increases, fraud detection, verification, and intervention must also happen in real time.
The panel discussed APP fraud reimbursement models, operational risk in B2B instant payments, and the growing role of AI in fraud prevention.
The conversation also highlighted how instant payments could transform B2B commerce by enabling real-time verification, faster supplier payments, and more dynamic treasury operations.
The webinar also examined what comes next with the riselooked ahead toof agentic payments, a future where AI agents search, negotiate, and execute transactions on behalf of users.
This shift will introduce new questions around identity, authorisation, liability, governance, and trust.
Instant payments are becoming a strategic infrastructure
The webinar closed with a clear message: instant payments are no longert simply a compliance requirement. They are becoming strategic infrastructure that will reshape how consumers transact, how businesses move money, and how financial institutions compete.
The discussion also explored the growing role of open banking, Wero, and AI-driven payments in Europe’s evolving payments stack, and why interoperability will become increasingly important over the next few years.
This recap highlights only part of the discussion. For deeper insights on fraud, AI, interoperability, and the future of instant payments, watch the full webinar recording here.
About Paula Albu
Paula Albu has experience in content writing and editing, as well as being a creative storyteller. As a Junior Editor at The Paypers, she investigates Web3 technologies along with the latest trends and regulations in banking and fintech. Paula is committed to turning complex industry topics into engaging, accessible content that resonates with readers and creates a meaningful connection. She is available via LinkedIn or at paula@thepaypers.com.
About ClearBank
ClearBank launched in 2017 and was the first new, full-service UK clearing bank to be plugged directly into the UK’s banking and payment infrastructure in over 250 years. In 2024, we built the same model for Europe. For decades, payment clearing remained unchanged and unchallenged, so we set out to change it and make banking infrastructure faster, safer, and more reliable.
