Instant payment

Instant payment (sometimes referred to as real-time payment or faster payment) is a method of electronic funds transfer, allowing for almost immediate transfer of money between bank accounts. This was in contrast to the previous transfer times of one to three business days that had been in place until the mid-2010s. ^[1]

Since the mid-2010s many countries have implemented instant payment systems that speed up the transfer between bank accounts in response to customer demand for faster transactions. ^[1]

The Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB) in 2018 defined instant payments as:

Electronic retail payment solutions available 24/7/365 and resulting in the immediate or close-to-immediate interbank clearing of the transaction and crediting of the payee’s account with confirmation to the payer (within seconds of payment initiation). ^[2]

History

Originally clearing of payments was based on the cheque clearing cycle that required physical cheques to be exchanged by banks at clearing houses for payments to be made between bank accounts. When electronic payments entered the banking systems from the 1970s onwards, the same timeframes and processes were used to settle these electronic payments.

The growth of e-commerce since the 2000s has caused a change in people's spending patterns and expectations. Shopping is no longer confined to regular business hours, creating new challenges for funds transfers. ^[3] Similarly, merchants require faster and more reliable money transfer systems to keep up with consumers' demands. ^[4]

Traditional electronic payments like bank transfers, that perform the electronic funds transfers within a few business days, are not in line with user expectations. ^{[5] [6]}

In 2024, EU adopted Instant Payment Regulation, aiming to accelerate instant payments in Europe. For EU member states operating in euro it partially took affect in January 2025, for non-euro member states it will partially take affect in January 2027. This regulation includes requirements to send and receive transfers within 10 seconds, as well as to implement the Verification of Payee service ^{[7] [8]} . The Verification of Payee allows payment service providers (PSPs) to verify the IBAN and the name of the payee as given by the payer. It will help to reduce scams and incorrect transfers ^{[9] [10]} . The regulation also allowed non-bank financial institutions access central bank-operated payment systems like TARGET. This opened an access to several SEPA services for fintechs and neobanks in Europe ^[11] .

Notable instant payment systems by country

Name	Country	Launched	Payment Sources	Identifiers	Notable Features	Transaction Volume per year (in billions)
New Payments Platform (NPP)	Australia	2018	Bank Account	PayID (Phone number, email or Australian Business Number)	Recurring Payments	1.2 (2022) [12]
Wero	Belgium France Germany	2024 [13]	Bank account [14]	Mobile Number [15] QR Code [16]	Cross-border instant payment [17]
Pix	Brazil	2020 [18]	Bank Account [19]	QR Code Email Mobile Number Pix Key/Alias [20]	Recurring Payments (Pix Automático) [21] Get change as cash at merchants (Pix Troco) [22] Cash withdrawal (Pix Saque) [23]	42 (2023) [24]
Internet Banking Payment System (IBPS)	China	2010	Bank Account e-wallet [25]	QR Code Mobile Number [25]	Recurring Payments [25]	16.98 (2023) [26]
Vipps and MobilePay	Denmark [a] Finland [b] Norway Sweden	2013 (MP) 2015 (Vipps)	Debit/Credit Card Bank Account	Mobile Number [27]	Common app for users of all banks Ability to chat. [27]	1.52 (2024) [28]
TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS)	EU	2018 [29]	IBAN			0.23 (2023) [30]
Instant Payment Network	Egypt	2022 [31]	Bank Account, Meeza Prepaid Card	Instant Payment Address (IPA) Mobile Number Card Number Bank Account Number IBAN QR Code URL	Unified app for inter-bank transfers Send money requests	0.02 (2023) [32]
Faster Payment System (FPS)	Hong Kong	2018	e-wallet, Bank Account [33]	QR Code Mobile Number [33]	Supports both Hong Kong Dollar & Chinese Yuan Renminbi	0.531 (2023) [34]
GIRO Zrt	Hungary	2020	Bank Account [35]	Bank Account Number Mobile Number Email Tax Number		-
Unified Payments Interface (UPI)	India	2016	Bank Account Prepaid Wallet Credit Card Credit Line CBDC Stored Value [36]	QR Code NFC UPI ID Mobile Number Sound Pattern [37] [38] Bank Account Number with IFSC	Recurring Payments (UPI AutoPay) Foreign Inward Remittance Payments without Internet/Network (UPI Lite X) Feature phone compatibility [39] UPI OneWorld (for tourists) ATM Withdrawal International Payments [40] Distributed by ecosystem of apps, some of which provide value added features like chat Apps allow linking multiple payment sources, from all service providers in a unified manner	117.6 (2023) [41] [42]
Immediate Payment Service (IMPS)	India	2010 [43]	Bank Account [43]	Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) [43] Bank Account Number with IFSC. [43]	Foreign Inward Remittance (FIR) [44]	5.8 (2023) [45]
Quick Response Code Indonesia Standard (QRIS)	Indonesia	2019	e-Wallet Bank account [46]	QR Code		2.57 (2024) [47]
ZENGIN	Japan	1973	Bank Account [48]	Account Number [48]	Inward Remittance [49]	3 (2023) [49]
CliQ	Jordan	2020	Bank Account [50]	IBAN Account number Alias		0.03 (2023) [51]
Raast	Pakistan	2019	Bank Account	IBAN Mobile Number [52]		0.16 (2023)
InstaPay	Philippines	2018	Bank Account e-wallet [53]	QR Code Account Number and Recipient's Bank Name Mobile Number Email ID [53]		0.74 (2023) [54]
PESONet	Philippines	2017	Bank Account e-wallet [55]	Account Number and Recipient's Bank Name Mobile Number Email ID [56]		0.08 (2023) [54]
BLIK	Poland	2015	Bank Account	NFC Dynamic Code [57]	ATM Withdrawal & Deposit Recurring Payments	1.80 (2023) [58]
Fast and Secure Transfers (FAST)	Singapore	2014	Bank Account	Bank Account Number with Bank Code [59]		0.29 (2022) [60]
PayNow	Singapore	2017	Bank Account	QR Code NRIC Mobile Number [61]	International Remittance	0.31 (2022) [62]
Bizum	Spain Andorra	2016 [63]	Bank Account [64]	Mobile Number [64] QR Code [64]	Direct Donations to NGOs [63] Cross-border instant payment [65]	1 (2022) [66]
Swish	Sweden	2012 [67]	Bank Account	QR Code Mobile Number [68]		-
TWINT	Switzerland	2017 [69]	Bank Account	QR Code Mobile Number Dynamic Token [69]		0.59 (2023) [70]
PromptPay	Thailand	2021	Bank Account	QR Code Mobile Number		3.6 (2023) [71]
Faster Payment Service (FPS)	United Kingdom	2008	Bank Account	Account Number and Recipient Name QR Code	Forward dated payments Standing orders	4.5 (2023) [72]
Zelle	United States	2017	Bank Account	Email Mobile Number		2.3 (2022)
FedNow	United States	2023	Bank Account
Visa Direct	United States	2025	Bank Account with Visa Debit Card	Debit Card number with cardholder's name	Converted to an instant payment system in April 2025, for customers in the US [3] Visa Direct is different from Visa's card payment service, which is not an instant payment system [5]	10 (2024) [73]
EasyPay	Ukraine	2009	Bank Account	Mobile Number		0.05 (2021) [74]

1. including Faroe Islands and Greenland
2. including Åland Islands

See also

• Clearing (finance)
• European Central Bank
• EBA Clearing
• SWIFT for NPP
• Settlement (finance)

References

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