SEPA Payments in Euro: Complete Guide + What Paysera’s Access to the ECB’s T2 System Means

What does SEPA mean?

SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) is a unified euro payments zone designed so that EUR transfers are processed under common standards. In practice, SEPA aims to make euro transfers across participating countries as simple, predictable, and easy to initiate as possible, using standardized information (primarily the IBAN).

For a detailed explanation, see Paysera’s article: What is SEPA.

What information do you usually need for a SEPA transfer?

• Recipient’s IBAN (essential)
• Recipient’s name (depending on the channel and provider)
• Additional details only if required (e.g. address), depending on internal rules and compliance

What are the criteria for a SEPA transfer?

For a payment to qualify as a SEPA transfer, it must meet a few simple rules:

1. Currency is EUR: the transfer is made in euro. If you start from a different currency account, a currency conversion may apply according to your provider’s policy.
2. Recipient within SEPA area: the destination account must be in a country or territory included in the SEPA area (depending on the scheme).
3. Shared charges (SHA) model: typically, each party pays the fees of their own provider. Exact costs depend on your provider and pricing plan.

If you send money outside the SEPA area or in other currencies, you will typically use other types of international transfers (with potentially higher variability in cost and processing time).

Processing time for SEPA transfers

Typically, SEPA standard transfers are processed on business days, and delivery time depends on the initiation time (cut-off) and the operational schedule of the institutions involved. In many cases, standard transfers arrive within 1 business day, but transactions initiated after the cut-off time or around holidays may be processed on the next business day.

SEPA Instant (SCT Inst) is the fast transfer option: funds arrive within seconds, regardless of time or day. Important: it must be available at both the sender’s and the recipient’s institution.

Limits for SEPA Instant: there is no single universal limit across all providers; the scheme defines standard thresholds (typically in the tens of thousands of euros), while individual providers may set their own limits per transaction or per day based on risk and internal policies.

What direct access to T2 (ECB) means for transfer speed

The speed of instant transfers also depends on the provider’s technical infrastructure. Institutions that process payments directly through the T2 system of the European Central Bank — the main euro settlement infrastructure, through which over €2 trillion flows daily — can execute and confirm transactions in real time without relying on intermediary banks.

More specifically, T2 is the system through which financial institutions settle payments between each other in central bank money, with immediate finality. Direct access eliminates the need for correspondent banks or multi-step settlement chains.

In the traditional model, a payment institution depends on one or more partner banks to access settlement infrastructure, which can introduce delays, additional costs, and operational failure points. With direct T2 access, Paysera removes this chain and processes payments directly within the Eurosystem, reducing latency and increasing execution predictability.

This direct connection to the Eurosystem was previously available only to commercial and central banks, national treasuries, and financial market infrastructures. EU Regulation 2024/886 (effective October 2025) opened access to non-bank payment institutions, increasing competition and democratizing European payment infrastructure.

Paysera is the first electronic money institution in Europe to obtain direct participant status in T2, following a rigorous evaluation by the ECB and the Bank of Lithuania. In practical terms, this means Paysera manages its own liquidity and settlement positions directly within T2, without relying on partner banks, giving it full control over payment execution.

From a strategic perspective, this positions Paysera not just as a payment service provider, but as a direct participant in European financial infrastructure, operating at the same level as banks connected to the Eurosystem.

Countries in the SEPA zone