Instant credit transfers processed by euro area retail payment systems reached 23 percent of total credit transfer volume in the first half of 2025, according to European Central Bank payment statistics published on 29 January 2026. The share stood at approximately 16 percent in H1 2024. Euro area retail systems processed approximately 55.7 billion transactions valued at EUR 26.2 trillion during the period.
The value share tells a different story. Instant transactions accounted for 7 percent of total credit transfer value in H1 2025. The disparity indicates that instant payments remain concentrated in lower-value retail and person-to-person segments. High-value corporate treasury flows continue to use standard credit transfer rails with next-day settlement.
The acceleration follows the EU Instant Payments Regulation's sending mandate, which took effect on 9 October 2025. The mandate requires all PSPs offering standard euro credit transfers to also offer instant credit transfers at charges not exceeding standard transfer prices. TIPS processed 1.35 billion transactions in 2024, a five-fold increase over the prior year. RT1 operated by EBA Clearing has also recorded sustained volume growth as banks upgraded processing capacity to meet the regulatory deadline.
The next inflection point arrives when the receiving mandate extends to non-euro area EU member states. That extension will broaden mandatory instant payment acceptance beyond current eurozone participants and could accelerate the shift in value share as cross-border instant payments become more routine.