Pressure on banks intensifies over eurozone instant payments

In late October, the European Commission adopted a legislative proposal requiring eurozone banks to offer instant euro payments to any individual with a bank account in an EU or EEA country at a cost no higher than that for non-instant euro credit transfers.

This move was the culmination of three years of consultation and was prompted by the relatively low implementation of instant payments across the eurozone – with the commission acknowledging that around one third of EU payment service providers don’t even offer the service.