JPMorgan joins Sepa real-time payments

JPMorgan Chase has joined the Single Euro Payments Area real-time payments scheme by adding the Sepa Instant Credit rail to its network in Europe.

The advancement in real-time payments makes U.S.-based JPMorgan the first bank to offer instant payment capabilities in U.S. dollars, U.K. pounds and euros.

Scott Eells/Bloomberg

The bank views the Sepa addition as "another step towards offering real-time payments around the globe," Sungmahn Seo, head of Emea payments and FX for JPMorgan Treasury Services, said in a Wednesday press release.

As it touts its leadership in faster payments, the bank says clients benefit from immediate payment finality, easier reconciliation, better budgeting and improved liquidity management.

The European Payments Council launched the Sepa Instant Credit scheme in 2017, citing the pan-European payments initiative as having the potential to create the largest faster payments zone in the world.

A March 2019 report from the council indicates that Germany has been quickest to adopt the Sepa real-time payments rails, with its 1,299 payment providers operating as part of the Sepa scheme. Meanwhile, the U.K. had only seven at that time.

Overall, 2,057 providers throughout Europe are participating in Sepa Instant Credit.

Users of the JPMorgan service can transfer up to 15,000 euros, which will arrive in a beneficiary's account within a maximum of 10 seconds, the bank said.

"As we create new opportunities and efficiencies for our clients via Sepa Instant and other real-time payment schemes we expect the take-up for real- time payments will grow exponentially," Art Brieske, head of faster payments at JPMorgan Treasury Services, said in the release.