Enabling secure instant payments

The EU’s Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) has set ambitious deadlines, requiring banks and PSPs to receive instant payments by January and send them by October 2025.

Behind the scenes, current payment systems are creating headaches for many financial institutions - customer service teams are fielding calls about pending payments, settlements take days instead of seconds, employees spend valuable time manually resolving rejected transactions and managing multiple payment platforms... and operational costs are increasing.

At the same time, consumers and businesses want faster, more reliable ways to move their money. They wonder why they can stream HD video instantly but have to wait days for a payment to clear.

So how can financial institutions successfully transform their payment infrastructure while meeting tight regulatory deadlines, reducing operational costs and creating better customer experiences? Read on to find out...

For many years, European customers have had to wait days for payments to clear. However, the existing banking systems that power these transactions are becoming vulnerable, opening a range of problems for both customers and banks:

• Delayed settlements can cause cash flow problems
• Pending transactions can increase operating costs
• High transaction rejection rates can require more manual intervention
• Limited availability outside business hours frustrates customers who expect 24/7 service

Changing consumer expectations and regulatory requirements are forcing financial institutions to modernise their infrastructure. The EU established the Instant Payments Regulation to address these issues, with implementation deadlines throughout 2025.

We can message someone on the other side of the world in less than a second, and we can order goods with a single click. Yet in the EU, sending a payment to your neighbour can still take days to clear. This is a frustration of many consumers and businesses.

Instant payments will speed up transactions. But it will deliver other benefits too:

• Better cash flow: With payments clearing much faster, consumers and businesses will have more cash on hand to cover costs and investments.
• Stronger security: By reducing the time that fraud could be conducted and providing immediate payment confirmation, payers and payees will be better protected.
• More innovation: Instant payments will enable business models that weren’t possible with the known payment processes (e.g. real-time marketplace payouts, instant insurance claim disbursements and on-demand wage access).

Real-time execution, automated reconciliation, and full support for weekend and nighttime operations will help create a superior user experience across all channels.

When money moves in seconds, security needs to move even faster. Traditional fraud detection that takes minutes or hours simply doesn’t work with instant payments.

Here are some essential security measures to get right:

• Real-time fraud monitoring: These systems are capable of detecting and mitigating fraudulent activities as payments are processed.
• Strong authentication: Transaction-level risk assessments and robust customer verification methods ensure that only legitimate transactions are processed even with faster payments.
• Verification of Payee (VoP): Before money leaves an account, VoP quickly checks if the account number actually belongs to the person or business money is about to be sent to. It then gives customers immediate confirmation of whether the recipient’s details are correct, and lets the sender choose whether to continue or cancel the transaction. G+D Netcetera’s VoP solution is quick and simple to implement.

These security measures will help payment providers improve security, reduce fraud losses and payment errors, and strengthen customer trust.

Transitioning to instant payments can be challenging. Most banks are working with systems that weren’t built for real-time processing. There are also security concerns about faster payments potentially resulting in faster fraud.

The operational changes needed are significant, but G+D Netcetera can help navigate these challenges. Here’s how…

• Simpler infrastructure solutions: Instead of rebuilding your entire payment system, G+D Netcetera’s cloud solutions plug into what you already have. They handle the real-time processing while your core systems continue doing what they do best. The APIs connect smoothly with your existing setup, so you can process payments globally and scale up as you grow.
• Smarter fraud prevention: When payments happen in seconds rather than days, fraud detection needs to work just as quickly. G+D Netcetera’s systems spot suspicious activity in real time and assess risks on the fly. Advanced authentication ensures the right people are making payments without delaying transactions.
• Stronger security and compliance: G+D Netcetera’s comprehensive screening solution checks customers against restrictive measures and filters out false alarms, helping you meet your regulatory duties.

G+D Netcetera’s technical excellence is demonstrated by over 20 years of proven expertise modernising payment systems. Our systems connect smoothly with your existing infrastructure through well-designed APIs, and the platform scales effortlessly as transaction volumes grow. Despite handling millions of transactions, our robust security framework ensures both your operations and your customers’ money stay protected.

With October’s instant payments deadline quickly approaching, partnering with G+D Netcetera can help financial institutions meet their regulatory requirements while improving security and offering an excellent customer experience.

Want to learn how G+D Netcetera can help your bank to enable secure instant payments? Get in touch with our experts.