VOP Matching Recommendations v2.0: Character Sets and Joint Accounts
EPC’s VOP matching recommendations v2.0 add limited Latin character-set rules, convert stored names before matching and reword the joint-account Match test.
-
-
EPC Register of Participants: The 20 November 2026 Adherence Cutoff
On 2 October 2026 the European Payments Council (EPC) announced an exceptional December 2026 publication cycle, added to its 2026 calendar for the EPC Register of Participants. Adherence documents for that cycle have to reach the EPC by 20 November 2026, the Register is published on 11 December 2026, and the earliest Operational Readiness Date…
-
Riksbank Digital Krona Letter: Five Years Plus Before Any Launch
On 15 October 2026 the Riksbank published a letter to the Riksdag’s Committee on Finance, dated 7 October 2026, explaining why the question of a digital krona, the instrument it used to call the e-krona, is back on the table. The letter estimates that implementing a digital krona would take the Riksbank and the market…
-
TIPS Pix Interlinking: The ECB Starts a Brazil Feasibility Study
On 24 September 2026 the ECB announced that its Governing Council had approved a feasibility assessment for TIPS Pix interlinking: a possible connection between the Eurosystem’s TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) platform and Pix, the fast payment system owned and operated by the Central Bank of Brazil. The two central banks will work through technical,…
-
OCT Inst Scheme Explained: Sending Instant Euro Beyond SEPA
The EPC OCT Inst scheme has been live since 28 November 2023, and on 15 September 2026 the European Payments Council hosted its OCT Inst in Action webinar with payment service and infrastructure providers that were implementing or already offering OCT Inst-based services. If your firm uses the OCT Inst scheme for an international instant…
-
EPC Instant Credit Transfer Scheme Selector: SCT Inst or OCT Inst?
On 11 September 2026 the European Payments Council (EPC) published a small web tool with an outsized job: the Instant Credit Transfer Scheme Selector. It addresses an operational classification question for instant-payment design: does the use case fall under the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme, the One-Leg Out Instant Credit Transfer (OCT Inst)…
-
G20 Cross-Border Payments Targets: The 2027 Reporting Countdown
On 8 July 2026, the Financial Stability Board’s Deputy Secretary General, Martin Moloney, told an OMFIF audience that the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments is approaching its finish line without having reached its destination. The G20 cross-border payments targets on cost, speed, transparency and access were set in 2021, and most of them fall…
-
Verification of Payee 2.0: What the Next-Generation VoP Scheme Standard Means for EU PSPs
If your bank went live with Verification of Payee on 5 October 2025 and then quietly assumed the work was finished, the next eighteen months will surprise you. The scheme that PSPs built against is already moving. A version 1.1 of the rulebook is published, a version 2.0 is out for consultation, and the matching…
-
Riksbank Cross-Currency Instant Payments: What the SEK-EUR Go-Live Means for PSPs
Riksbank cross-currency instant payments reach Swedish payment service providers in June 2026, and the operational risk is timing. The settlement service has existed on the Eurosystem platform since October 2025, so a payments team that reads the platform launch as its own go-live date will plan onboarding, liquidity and customer messaging around the wrong month….