Instant payments are rapidly scaling in Europe, as SEPA’s instant payment mandate takes off. This marks a significant chapter for the region’s financial system but also presents a new challenge: how do payment service providers (PSPs) manage liquidity in a world where money moves continuously, instantly, and without reset?
Let’s unpack the growth. SEPA Instant Credit Transfer volumes are growing rapidly, with transaction numbers increasing by more than 130%* year-on-year. Millions of instant payments are processed daily, across the borders of participating countries. The underlying infrastructures are growing accordingly, too. TIPS and RT1 are the two main players in the region. Combined, they handle on average 8.6m** transactions a day.
The benefits from this speed and convenience have been discussed at length, but fast, efficient payments are fundamentally changing how liquidity behaves. The batch payment mindset is becoming a thing of the past. Treasury and liquidity teams now need to think in real-time to manage always-on 24/7 settlements. Teams can no longer rest on the laurels of predictable settlement cycles.
Funding exposure, in both overfunding and underfunding scenarios, and operational risk have been exposed by instant payments. In the years that follow, regulatory scrutiny will increase too, cementing a ‘new normal’ for payments.
Liquidity is no longer managed at defined points in time; it is continuously exposed to changing payment flows.
Dave Wild, Head of Payments Innovation & Strategy at Planixs, commented on the shift:
“Payment flows are becoming more intraday and event-driven. The challenge isn’t just visibility, it’s understanding how liquidity will evolve and where intervention is needed.”
Institutions need to understand not just how much liquidity they have, but how it will behave over time, and how actions will change the outcome.
As PSPs navigate multiple infrastructures, including TIPS, RT1 and domestic schemes, the challenge of maintaining a clear and consistent view of liquidity is becoming more pronounced.
“Visibility, coordination and control are slipping away from financial institutions as instant payments rise,” Dave argues.
“Simply adding more liquidity isn’t an adequate response. PSPs need a thorough grasp of their intraday liquidity to survive. Firms must look to a data-driven approach and move away from reactive funding models. The trouble is accessing the instant payments to begin with. PSPs need access to live and historical payment data to build a clearer picture of liquidity over time.”
Instant payments are shifting liquidity management into real-time, and teams are beginning to realise the impact on treasury operations, forecasting and risk. And the solution lies with timely and accessible payments data.
Planixs will be joining the conversation at EBAday 2026, where banks, PSPs, and market infrastructures address the growing need for real-time liquidity control in Europe’s evolving payments landscape.
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*European Central Bank’s Annual Report 2025, citing years 2024-2025, link.
**TIPS volumes averaged 3.8m in 2025, link. RT1 transaction volumes averaged 4.8m a day in 2025, link.
