Business

Within the European Union, a bank payment with an IBAN number could take between a few hours and a few days to reach its destination. Otherwise, you have to pay a fee. That's all changed now!

From now on, European banks are obliged to offer instant payments at the same rates as conventional transfers. In other words, it will generally be free of charge. Previously, only payments between two customers of the same bank could be made in a matter of seconds, even on Sundays and public holidays. This could be a problem when it came to meeting deadlines or receiving a much-awaited amount. As of January 8, 2025 (by October 2025 at the latest for banks that didn't previously offer this service), every citizen of an EU member state will be able to request instant payment at no extra cost. In other words, the payment will be made in less than 10 seconds to an IBAN account number held by a bank within the European Union.

Danger!

Immediacy valid 7 days a week at any time. So it works for Christmas presents too. There's one caveat, however. In the event of an error in encoding the amount or communication, it won't be possible to block the payment. With the delay of a few hours for conventional transfers, it's still possible to ask the bank to block the transfer. With instant payment, the transfer is irrevocable. However, there's an automatic system for checking that IBAN numbers match. It's therefore impossible to validate a transaction from a non-existent account. On the other hand, if the payment has gone to the wrong recipient, you'll have to make arrangements with them. Giving is giving...

(MH with Olivier Duquesne - Source : 7sur7.be - Picture : © picture alliance / Zoonar | Sirijit Jongcharoenkulchai)