In a world where people want everything around them to happen immediately, it is very important for them that the services they use in their everyday life, to be instant too. SEPA Instant transfers give to users this advantage – they make it possible to send bank transfers in euro in just a few seconds, in a total of 36 countries in Europe.
The good news is that you can now send SEPA Instant transfers in iCard. You have probably already received at least one SEPA Instant transfer in your digital wallet. Now, in addition to standard SEPA transfers, you can also use SEPA Instant transfers in your favourite digital wallet. What exactly is SEPA Instant and how will it help you in making instant transfers across Europe?
The idea behind SEPA Instant
Years ago, sending money abroad took a lot of time and the fees for the services were high. To solve this problem, the idea of SEPA (Single Euro Payment Area) arose and in 2017 the scheme for making money transfers in euro officially began to operate.
SEPA Instant allows all customers of banks and non-bank financial institutions, which are members of the payment scheme, to make money transfers in euro in seconds. The invention of SEPA Instant was an important stage in dealing with the difficulties of transferring money outside the country.
SEPA Instant makes it possible to transfer funds from one account to another in real time while the two sides of the transfer are in different countries. The system is used both for transfers between individuals and for business payments.
The advantages of SEPA Instant
When making SEPA Instant transfers in iCard, the funds will instantly reach the recipient. The maximum time for which this can happen is 10 seconds. The other big advantage of this type of bank transfer is the possibility to send large amounts at once – the limit for SEPA Instant transfer in the digital wallet is 50,000 EUR. As a client of iCard (SEPA Instant member), you can both send and receive funds through both SEPA and SEPA Instant. As a client of iCard (SEPA Instant member), you can make outgoing and incoming SEPA and SEPA Instant transfers in all 36 countries in Europe where SEPA operates. This means that there is at least one bank that is a SEPA member in each country.
The service is available at any time of the day and every day of the year. A necessary condition is that the sender’s and recipient’s banks are members of SEPA Instant. When making a bank transfer through iCard digital wallet, each client can choose whether to take advantage of SEPA Instant services and send funds instantly or to use the standard SEPA transfer option. The difference is that in the second option the transaction will take up to 2 business days. All iCard Metal cardholders can send an unlimited number of SEPA and SEPA Instant transfers completely free.
Other benefits of SEPA Instant
- A completely secure method for making money transactions;
- Low fees for instant outgoing transfers;
- The whole process is happening on your phone;
- It operates at any time of the day;
- SEPA Instant transfers can be made on weekends and public holidays;
- You do not pay any fees when you receive a SEPA Instant transfer.
Countries that are member-states of SEPA Instant
As of January 2022, SEPA Instant operates in a total of 36 countries: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Republic of Ireland, San Marino, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The United Kingdom and the Vatican City State. You can find more information here.
How to send a SEPA Instant transfer with iCard?
SEPA Instant transfers allow you to send immediate money transfers in euro to clients of other SEPA Instant members. All you need to do in iCard digital wallet is the IBAN and the names of the beneficiary. Here’s how:
1. Open iCard and go to “Send” tab.
2. Select “Bank” and enter the IBAN of the recipient.
3. Enter the amount, then the names of the recipient.
4. Choose whether you want to use instant transfer or not.
5. Confirm the transaction.
Done! The transfer has been successfully sent. Before making a transfer, it is important to check carefully if the recipient’s details are entered correctly, if the bank is a member of SEPA Instant and if there is enough money in your account. The fees for outgoing transfers with SEPA Instant in iCard are:
- For clients with “Standard” and “Infinite” plans – 2 EUR/transfer;
- For clients with plan “Metal” – an unlimited number of free transfers.
There is another way with which you can instantly transfer money in iCard – with internal transfers between clients of the digital wallet. With this method, you can make free money transfers anywhere in the world in a total of 7 currencies. This can only happen if both participants have an account in iCard. To make a SEPA Instant transfer, the recipient does not need to be registered in the digital wallet, as long as his bank is a SEPA Instant member.
Learn more about iCard digital wallet: https://icard.com/en
Download iCard and send and receive instant money transfers across Europe:
