As of February 2024, the EU has introduced a regulation ensuring instant payments become a standard across all EU and EEA countries by 2025. By January 2025, banks must support incoming instant payments, and by October 2025, they must also offer outbound payments. This legislation aims to provide businesses and consumers with the ease and accessibility of instant transactions, regardless of time or day.
The transition from traditional batch-based processing to real-time payments is a technical shift, especially for banks relying on legacy IT systems. Handling payments within 10 seconds, 24/7, demands more than just speed, it also requires the infrastructure to manage compliance checks, fraud detection, and uninterrupted availability. Ximedes, in partnership with Tietoevry, addresses these complexities with its instant SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) component. This component, designed specifically for seamless integration, can operate continuously and manage thousands of transactions per second, bridging modern and legacy systems to achieve real-time efficiency.
When an instant payment is initiated, the process flows through multiple stages to ensure its security and accuracy. The sending bank transmits a PACS.008 message to the receiving bank via a clearing and settlement mechanism (CSM), which validates the message and forwards it. Once verified, the receiving bank sends a PACS.002 message back, confirming payment success. Finally, the CSM processes a real-time gross settlement (RTGS) through either TIPS or EBA Clearing RT1, moving funds between banks in real-time to complete the transaction. This series of actions ensures the seamless transfer of funds within seconds, ready to meet the modern demands of digital finance.
For banks and PSPs that are already facing these technical challenges in their infrastructure, Ximedes and Tietoevry provide a solution that enables real-time payment capabilities without overhauling existing systems. The Ximedes Real-Time (RT) Layer synchronizes with legacy systems at a pace suited for the existing infrastructure, while still ensuring customers can see real-time updates via banking apps or portals.
To learn more about how Ximedes and Tietoevry support banks in adapting to these changes, visit our page on Instant Payments.