TARGET's T2 RTGS and STEP2-T batch clearing will close on April 3 and April 6 under the Eurosystem's published 2026 operating schedule. EURO1 will also suspend processing on both days. Standard SEPA Credit Transfer and SEPA Direct Debit instructions submitted during April 3 through April 6 will queue for settlement on April 7, the first available operating day.
RT1 and TIPS will process SCT Inst transactions without interruption throughout the four-day period. TIPS averaged 4.16 million daily EUR transactions in February 2026, representing 92 percent year-on-year growth. RT1 averaged 6.1 million daily transactions in January 2026, a 67 percent increase from January 2025. The two CSMs now handle over 10 million instant payments per day on typical business days.
The October 2025 sending mandate has been in force for nearly six months. The December 2025 holiday period occurred just 11 weeks after the mandate took effect, when many PSPs were still completing migration. By April 2026, instant payment routing should be embedded in standard PSP operations. The volume that RT1 and TIPS absorb during April 3 through April 6 will indicate how far European payment behaviour has shifted from batch dependency toward continuous instant settlement.