The Central Bank of Cyprus would like to remind all payment service providers that fall in scope of Regulation (EU) 2024/886 (the Instant Payments Regulation) of the following application deadlines:
- By 9 January 2025: banks to receive instant payments.
- By 9 October 2025: banks to send instant payments.
- By 9 April 2027: payment institutions and electronic money institutions to receive and send instant payments.
Payment initiation channels
- By 9 October 2025: payment service providers must offer their customers instant payments via the same channels as the ones offered for traditional credit transfers.
Charges
- By 9 January 2025: any charges for instant payments cannot exceed those levied for traditional credit transfers. Fees may be charged for additional services.
Screening of customers vis-à-vis the latest applicable EU sanctions lists
- By 9 January 2025: payment service providers must verify, at least once every calendar day, whether any of their customers are persons or entities subject to targeted financial restrictive measures.
Verification of the payee
- By 9 October 2025: payment service providers must offer their customers a service for ensuring verification of the payee to whom the payer intends to send.