EBA Clearing's STEP2 SCT service processed an average of 25.4 million credit transfers daily in Q1 2026. This represents a 5% decline from the 26.8 million daily average in Q1 2025. January 2026 volumes were 25.1 million, down from 26.1 million a year earlier. February showed 25.4 million against 27.1 million. March was 25.6 million compared to 27.2 million.
The decline follows EU Regulation 2024/886, the Instant Payments Regulation. Euro-area PSPs were required to receive instant credit transfers by January 2025. The send obligation followed in October 2025. The regulation mandated that charges for instant transfers not exceed those for standard credit transfers. STET reported that instant payments reached 20% of French credit transfer volume in 2025. In Belgium, the instant share reached 25%. Poland's Express Elixir processed 57.5 million instant transactions in April 2026, up 10% year-on-year. Batch Elixir declined 1% over the same period.
STEP2 SDD Core averaged 45.0 million transactions daily in Q1 2026, a 7% increase from 42.2 million in Q1 2025. December 2025 set a monthly average record at 49.6 million daily transactions. SDD B2B reached 407,628 daily in March 2026, up from 348,443 in January 2026. Recurring payment mandates have no instant equivalent. Direct debit volumes continue growing independently of the credit transfer migration.