The European Parliament has approved a new law, according to which all bank transfers in euros will reach recipients in the EU, including in Cyprus, within ten seconds.
At the meeting, which took place on Wednesday, February 7, 599 MEPs voted in favor of the regulation, seven against and 35 abstained. The new law will come into force 20 days after publication in the EU Herald. Member states will have 12 months to bring it in line with the new rules.
The new regulation is expected to improve the security of transfers and give individuals and businesses certainty about exactly when money will reach their accounts. Banks and other payment service providers will have to make the innovations available to their customers.
This was announced by the press service of the European Parliament.
According to the new rules, the transfer will have to reach the recipient within ten seconds, regardless of the day of the week or time of day. The payer must also receive a confirmation of whether the money has reached the recipient within ten seconds. These rules will also have to be followed by countries that are not part of the euro zone but whose banks accept euro payments. However, these countries will have a longer transition period and the ten-second rule will only apply during business hours, as the euro stocks held by these payment institutions may not always be sufficient to make large payments immediately after hours.
Banks and payment service providers should ensure the security of euro payments and have a reliable and up-to-date system to prevent fraud and minimize errors. If a bank or payment service provider fails to take the necessary measures and this results in financial loss to the customer, the customer will be able to claim compensation.
Also, all banks and payment service providers operating in the EU will have to carry out immediate verification of the identity of the payee, but this should not impose additional costs on service users. Banks and payment service providers should not charge customers more for instant payments than for slower payments.
In the interest of security, the customer should be able to set a payment limit for instant payments that can be easily changed if a larger payment becomes necessary.