An article by
Dr. Martin Berger
Published on
20/12/2021
Updated on
09/11/2023
Reading time
5 min
Table of content
In December 2021, we will take another look at the current status of instant payment in interbank payment transactions and analyze the distribution and participation in SEPA instant payment by consumers and, above all, banks. As background information for more in-depth information, you will find the essential features of SEPA instant credit transfers in our article SEPA Instant Credit Transfer: Transfers up to € 100K in 10 seconds.
The following can be summarized in December 2021:
- A little more than 10% of all SEPA transfers are now carried out as real-time transfers.
- RT1 transaction volume and movement in value continue to grow almost linearly.
- In the SEPA area there are meanwhile on average a good quarter as many SCT Inst connected BIC bank codes as SCT connected BIC bank codes. 22.68% of the participants connected to the SCT are also connected to the SCT Inst.
- Since October 2021, 8 more financial institutions have been registered as SEPA Instant participants via RT1.
The following article contains detailed information with corresponding graphics:
Instant payment in interbank payments: Latest transaction statistics
Statistics from ECB
The following graphic shows the percentage of transactions made by real-time transfers compared to all SEPA transfers for the months October 2019 to September 2021:
Percentage of instant transfers in all SEPA transfers
Conclusion: Overall, a little more than 10% has now been achieved.
Statistics from EBA Clearing
The following figure shows the average daily SEPA Instant transaction volume processed via RT1 from January 2020 to December 2021. An approximately linear increase continues.
Instant payment in Interbanking Payments via R1: Average daily SCT Inst transaction volume in 2020-2021
The following figure shows the average daily SEPA Inst volume in EUR million processed via RT1 from January 2020 to December 2021. As expected, a similarly increasing trend can be seen here as well.
Instant payment in Interbanking Payments via R1: Average daily SEPA SCT Inst value in EUR million in 2020-2021
The following figure shows the average transfer amount for instant transfers for the period January 2020 to December 2021:
Instant payment in Interbanking Payments via R1: Average transfer amount in 2020-2021
Conclusion: RT1 transaction volume and value movement continue to grow almost linearly.
Instant payment in interbank payments: Comparison of SCT Inst vs. SCT availability in the SEPA area
Based on the data from ECB, from EBA Clearing and the Bundesbank’s directory of available payment service providers, the total number of payment service providers participating in SCT in the SEPA countries (measured using their BIC bank codes) is set in relation to the number of those opted for SEPA Instant participation. The following table shows the total count in comparision:
Comparison of the SCT vs. SCT Instant number of participants (counted according to unique BIC bank codes) per SEPA country, differentiated according to TIPS or RT1, in December 2021.
If one compares the pure number of participants, SEPA Instant now comes to approx. 26% of the SCT number of participants in the SEPA area average. Taking a closer look, as of December 2021, 22.68% of the SCT participants have also decided to participate in SCT Instant. Interestingly, there are currently 5 RT1 participants who only take part in SCT Inst and not in SCT:
- HIFX in NL and GB (Hifx Europe)
- SCET in IT (BFT Bank)
- TRFB in LT (Trustcom UAB)
- VTSS in GB (Vitesse PSP)
- WOHB in AT (s Wohnungsbaubank)
Conclusion: In the SEPA area there are meanwhile on average a good quarter as many SCT Inst connected BIC bank codes as SCT connected BIC bank codes. 22.68% of the participants connected to the SCT are also connected to the SCT Inst.
Instant payment in interbank payments: Number of BIC bank code participants in TIPS and RT1
The following figure shows the number of BIC bank codes participating in TIPS and RT1 in the period from May 2020 to December 2021:
Instant payment in Interbanking Payments: Number of BIC bank codes connected to TIPS or RT1 in the period May 2020 – December 2021 (data sources: EZB, EBA Clearing)
Instant payment in interbank payments: Change in participants since October 2021
New RT1 participants since October 2021 are:
| Number | Institute | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fairplay Pay s.r.o. – | CZ |
| 2 | TREEZOR – | FR |
| 3 | Hifx Europe Limited – | GB |
| 4 | PAYSAFE PREPAID SERVICES LIMITED – | IE |
| 5 | TRUELAYER IRELAND LIMITED – | IE |
| 6 | UAB MEDICINOS BANKAS – | LT |
| 7 | AS LPB Bank – | LV |
| 8 | XE Europe B.V. – | NL |
Conclusion: 8 more financial institutions have been registered as SEPA Instant participants via RT1 since October 2021.
Are you interested in banking software solutions for processing SEPA instant credit transfers?
CPG.instant as a software solution for connecting core banking systems to TIPS or RT1 in interbank payments
Among other things, we offer high-performance software solutions for processing SCT Inst transfers, which allow your bank to flexibly connect one or more core banking systems and clear SEPA instant payments accordingly via interfaces to TIPS or RT1.
If you have any questions or suggestions or you are interested in the topic of payment transactions, instant payment and related software products, please do not hesitate to contact us.
This article is part of a bi-monthly series and appears in our blog category on SEPA instant payments.
External data sources:
- ECB TIPS facts (12.10.2021)
- EBA Clearing RT1 participants (07.12.2021)
- Bundesbank Verzeichnis der erreichbaren Zahlungsdienstleister (20.12.2021)
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