EPC Instant Payment Consultation at Point of Sale Closes April 10

Payment service providers have until April 10 to respond to the EPC's consultation on SEPA Instant Credit Transfer use at merchant terminals, a step toward standardizing account-to-account payment acceptance at physical points of sale across Europe.

The European Payments Council's five-week consultation on the use of SCT Inst at the point of interaction closes on April 10, 2026. The consultation opened on March 6. It examines the EPC's potential role in ensuring interoperability among payment solutions built on SEPA instant credit transfer rails at merchant terminals.

The consultation addresses a market where two-thirds of eurozone card transactions depend on non-European business rules, according to ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone in an April 1 speech. Wero and national solutions including Bizum, iDEAL, and BLIK are building merchant acceptance on SEPA instant rails, making standardization of the point-of-sale experience a priority for the EPC.

Responses will feed into the EPC's scheme management process alongside two other active consultations. The SCT Inst scheme rulebook consultation (EPC009-26) runs through June 11. A Verification of Payee 2.0 consultation opened April 1 and closes June 30.