As is known, on April 4, 2024, new rules for real-time money transfers within the territories of EU member states came into force. Earlier (March 13, 2024), they had been reviewed, approved, and adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.

The combined goals of the new regulation:

• accelerate the implementation of instant payments in Europe, standardize the processing times for online payments within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA);

• promote the broad adoption and use of instant credit transfers in euros across the EU;

• ensure unified rules in the field of instant transfers, eliminating fragmented national approaches;

• strengthen financial security, including through the beneficiary verification mechanism and daily customer screening against sanctions lists (targeted financial restrictive measures).

Some general aspects of the adopted innovations:

• “Instant” transfers (no more than 10 seconds) are intended to significantly speed up payment operations, improve efficiency, and eliminate the need for external services (such as Klarna, PayPal);

• implementation of free real-time transfers without any additional fees or exceeding standard transfer charges;

• guaranteed 24/7 availability of transfers, regardless of bank working hours.

In the context of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, the innovations also include:

• cash payments will be limited to 10,000 euros without reporting requirements. EU member states may set a lower limit. Customer identification will be required for amounts from 3,000 euros;

• special requirements for transfers between crypto service providers and their own wallet addresses. This will enhance transparency and security of operations with decentralized digital currencies based on cryptography and blockchain.

IMPORTANT: All the mentioned changes were introduced systematically and step by step, in accordance with the decision-making process of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. Starting from October 9, 2025, they will become fully binding for all EU member states.