Eurozone banks will be required to make instant payments in the single currency 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to a draft of European Union rules seen by Reuters.
The EU wants to modernize payments so that money can be transferred from one account to another in seconds, at any time of day or night, compared with existing payments and direct deposits, which can take up to several working days.
The new rules are part of an EU policy to promote competitive domestic and pan-European market-based payment solutions in a region where the U.S. duo of Mastercard and Visa dominate cross-border retail payments.
Infrastructure for instant payments (IP) already exists in the eurozone, but its adoption has been slow: at the end of last year, only 11% of euro credit transfers were in the form of IP.
Payment service providers (PSPs) that provide euro credit transfers will be required to offer a service to send and receive IP in euros. This requirement would cover 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the draft states.
The final bill is due to be published Wednesday, and the final word will go to EU states and the European Parliament, meaning that further changes are likely.
The draft sets a mandatory deadline for PSPs six months after the new rules take effect.
Banks outside the euro zone will have more time to comply.
According to the draft law, cross-border intellectual property in euros must be valued at the same or lower level than the corresponding normal cross-border credit transfer in euros.
