SEPA Inst Mandate Ratification – Next Steps to Meet the Requirements

Organized on 05 Mar 2024 / 05:00 AM PDT / 08:00 AM EDT / 02:00 PM CET

Andriana Caciur

22 Feb 2024 / 5 Min Read

December 4th saw a key update for the much-anticipated SEPA Inst Mandate from the European Commission. The timelines for when PSPs in a Member State need to be equipped to enable all EU Citizens to receive Instant Payments have been extended to nine months after ratification and being able to send within 18 months. The deadlines for PSPs located in a member state whose currency is not the euro are 33 and 39 months, respectively. There are also separate timelines for electronic money institutions. Therefore, PSPs need to start planning their strategy, implementation, testing, and delivery now.

Adding a new payment rail in itself involves at least a 9-month project. However, there are additional requirements as well: that fees for these new instant payments stay in line with non-instant transfers (9 months and 33 months) and that you will have the functionality in place to match the international bank account number (IBAN) and the name of the beneficiary and verify clients against the EU sanctions list on a daily basis at least. The deadlines for verification of payee are 18 months and 39 months.

Whilst an official date for ratification of the mandate still needs to be confirmed, the next key discussion is the 5th of February 2024, with a predicted date of May 2024. Therefore, the time is now to start planning and kickstart implementation.

Agenda

What has changed between the 2022 European Commission proposal and the ratified version today? Timelines, inclusion of electronic money PSPs, clarification on dates for verification of payee.
What are the main barriers to adoption?
Which strategies will best address these pain points, including the option to transition to SaaS or choose a sponsor bank model?
How will Verification of Payee and Harmonized Sanction Screening work? Will ECB offer a similar model to Pay.UK?
Case studies: How have the banks on our panel prioritised their instant payments roadmaps, and what lessons have they learned?
What are the key benefits of adopting instant payments, and what is the business case for doing this ASAP before the mandate deadline?

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