Balancing Speed and Security

A new era of real-time expectation

According to the IPR, as of January 2025, eurozone banks needed to have been able to receive instant payments. By October 2025, they also need to send instant payments and provide Verification of Payee (VoP) services at no additional cost to customers (. Non-bank payment service providers, including electronic money institutions, face a longer runway, with compliance expected by mid-2027.

VoP confirms that the recipient’s name matches the account details and acts as a critical fraud prevention tool, particularly against Authorized Push Payment (APP) fraud.

However, implementing VoP at scale (and meeting the 24/7 instant payments accessibility requirement) means investment in routing and verification mechanisms from providers registered with the European Payments Council, as well as helping ensuring staffing and operational levels can cope.

Redefining sanctions screening and compliance

One of the most significant shifts under IPR is the move away from transaction-level sanctions screening. Instead, institutions must now conduct daily screening of their entire customer base and immediately rescreen accounts when new EU sanctions are introduced. This change is intended to reduce false positive alerts and streamline payment flows, but it also demands robust data sources, automated alert handling, and real-time sanction list updates.

For firms operating across jurisdictions, the complexity increases. While the EU regulation relaxes some requirements, obligations under regimes like OFAC remain. Institutions must therefore maintain multi-jurisdictional compliance strategies that can operate within the 10-second window; without compromising on risk mitigation.

The speed vs. security trade-off

IPR introduces a fundamental tension: how can institutions uphold rigorous financial crime controls while processing payments in real time? Traditional compliance models built around batch processing and manual review are no longer viable.

Compliance teams must now make binary decisions in seconds. This may lead to more rejected payments, especially where risk appetites are conservative or data quality is poor. Institutions must therefore invest in high-quality data, intelligent screening engines and streamlined workflows to reduce false positives and maintain customer trust.

Navigating the grey areas

While IPR provides clarity on EU sanctions and fraud monitoring, it doesn’t give guidance on how to navigate national restrictive measures, AML obligations and country-specific screening requirements. This regulatory ambiguity creates a “twilight zone” for compliance teams, who must interpret overlapping mandates without clear guidance.

Institutions must therefore adopt a risk-based approach, underpinned by flexible compliance frameworks and real-time data intelligence. Proactive engagement with regulators and industry bodies will also be key to navigating this evolving landscape.

What to do next?

To prepare for IPR, financial institutions should:

• Audit false positives and optimize screening parameters
• Validate sanctions data sources for timeliness and accuracy
• Automate account rescreening processes
• Invest in scalable VoP infrastructure
• Enhance customer communication to manage expectations around failed payments

Looking ahead

The SEPA Instant Payments Regulation is more than a compliance challenge; it’s a catalyst for transformation. Institutions that embrace this shift with agility, innovation and data-driven insight will be best positioned to deliver secure, seamless and customer-centric payment experiences.

At LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, we help organizations navigate regulatory change with confidence. Our solutions are designed to support real-time compliance, reduce operational friction and enable smarter decision-making, so you can move at the speed of your customers without compromising on risk.