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The new regulation aims to ensure that retail customers and businesses - especially small and medium-sized ones - do not have to wait for the transfer of their money, while also enjoying greater security of transfers.

Banks will now have to ensure that credit transfers are affordable and processed instantly, while, as noted, the text - which has already been agreed with the EU member states - updates the existing rules of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).

What changes with the new regulation of the EP An instant credit transfer is executed regardless of the day or time of the order and the money must reach the recipient’s account within ten seconds.

The orderer must also be informed within ten seconds whether the money transferred has been made available to the intended recipient or not.

It is noted that the member states whose currency is not the euro will also have to apply the rules - as long as the accounts already offer regular transactions in euros - although after a longer transitional period.

Security of transactions and compensation in case of fraud To guarantee security, banks will have to apply strong and modern detection and prevention measures, so as to avoid the transfer of credits to the wrong account due to fraud or error.

For this purpose, they must provide immediately - and without additional charges or fees - a service of verifying the identity of the recipient.

As an additional security lock against fraud, banks must allow their customers to set a maximum amount for instant credit transfers in euros, which can easily be modified before each transfer.

If a bank, moreover, does not fulfill its duties for the prevention of fraud and this results in financial damage, the customer can request compensation from the service provider.

It is noted that both banks and other money transfer service providers must be able to verify whether any of their customers is subject to sanctions or other restrictive measures related to the legalization of income from illegal activities.

No more waiting without extra charge According to the new regulation, the charges that banks apply in relation to the instant credit transfers in euros are not allowed to be higher than the charges that apply to the “non-instant” credit transfers in euros.

It is noted that the text was approved on Wednesday in the European Parliament with 599 votes in favor, 7 against and 35 abstentions.

The new rules come into force 20 days after the publication in the Official Journal of the EU, while the member states will have at their disposal 12 months to implement them.