The session gathered insights from seasoned professionals, including Katja Heyder (EBA Clearing), Frédéric Viard (Bottomline), Ryan Sullivan (JP Morgan), and Mike Chambers (Northey Point), each offering their perspectives on the intricacies and operational challenges of implementing SEPA Inst.
The SEPA Inst mandate presents a series of challenges for banks, regardless of their size. Smaller institutions find themselves grappling with the need to implement efficient processes for real-time payments, focusing on payee verification and sanction screening. Larger banks, already accustomed to instant payment systems, are now tasked with ensuring their compliance with new standardised requirements as outlined in the SEPA rule book.
An urgent reminder echoed throughout the webinar: the importance of rigorous testing. Ryan Sullivan of JP Morgan emphasised not underestimating testing, particularly across multiple branches and technical changes, which require synchronised deployment and testing to ensure compliance by the October 2025 deadline. It’s about moving quickly while ensuring system readiness across diverse branches and channels.
Frédéric Viard pointed out additional challenges such as the need for 24/7 system availability and liquidity management, given the nature of real-time payments. The requirement for integrated ISO 20022 message processing across all systems remains critical, amplifying the focus on thorough end-to-end testing.
As the industry braces for further mandates, including those set for October 2025, the focus shifts to ensuring readiness across several aspects, including the Verification of Payee (VOP) checks and the operational capacity to send SEPA Inst payments. Mike Chambers highlighted the urgency, expressing the need to prioritise and not understate the task at hand, given the approaching October deadline and significant penalties for non-compliance.
For banks, the critical question is how to align operational capacity with compliance requirements without compromising customer experience. Ryan Sullivan shared JPMorgan’s approach, which focuses on improving client experience by integrating key features from existing payment systems. This customer-centric approach also emphasises real-time transaction assessment, thereby fostering greater trust and improving cash management.
Fred Viard suggested that banks must ready their ecosystem to handle potential bottlenecks and ensure systems can scale effectively to manage expected transaction volumes. Liquidity management will play a pivotal role as payment volumes shift, particularly as corporate entities migrate toward weekend operations.
The discussion took a visionary turn as panelists considered the future of real-time payments beyond Europe. Fred Viard proposed the need for interoperability and real-time cross-border payments as logical next steps, citing initiatives such as Project Nexus. This aligns with the G20 objectives for faster, more transparent, and lower-cost transactions, suggesting a global move towards cross-border integration.
Mike Chambers underscored the potential of instant payments to unlock new opportunities, especially in open banking and fraud prevention through upgraded confirmation and verification processes.
The SEPA Inst mandate is an evolving landscape requiring careful navigation and strategic preparation. As institutions prepare for compliance deadlines, they must balance operational challenges with the drive to improve customer experiences. With an emphasis on collaborative fraud prevention and future interoperability, the SEPA Inst mandate not only represents a compliance challenge but also an opportunity for innovation in the payment sector.
As the payment landscape continues to evolve, stakeholders are encouraged to remain proactive, leveraging strategic partnerships and focusing on value-added services that enhance user experience while ensuring compliance. With these insights, banks can position themselves competitively in the impending instant payment era, ensuring they are not just compliant but also leaders in the industry.
For a more in-depth perspective, watch the webinar in full here.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now