Transfers — what they are

Transfers allow a payer (e.g. an individual or a company) to move funds between payment accounts, making them available to the beneficiary.

The payer and the payee (beneficiary) of the transfers may be the same entity.

Intrabank and interbank transfers

Depending on the location of the payment accounts, transfers can be:

Intrabank transfers — when carried out between accounts in the same payment service provider;
Interbank transfers — when carried out between accounts opened at different payment service providers. Depending on the location of the payment service providers, they can be:
- Domestic — when the payment service providers are located in the same country;
- Cross-border — when the payment service providers are located in different countries.

SEPA and non-SEPA transfers

Depending on the payment model used, credit transfers may be:

SEPA transfers — credit transfers in euro through standardised systems in SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area); these systems allow these operations to be carried out under the same rules, in a quicker and more transparent manner;
Non-SEPA transfers — credit transfers made through non-standardised systems, where the payment service providers of the payer, of the beneficiary or of both are not based in the SEPA area, or transfers which are made in a currency other than the euro, even when performed between payment service providers that are part of the SEPA area.

The SEPA payment scheme allows any customer (individual persons, companies or public administration bodies) located in the SEPA area to issue and receive credit transfers in euro through a single account and according to the same rules.

Payment service users must use the IBAN (international bank account number)¹ as the identifier of payment accounts. Should the payers not be consumers or micro-enterprises, the ISO 20022 XML message format must be used when communicating with payment service providers to send batch transfers.

The countries that make up the SEPA area are:

the 27 European Union Member States – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden;
Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (countries which, along with the aforementioned, constitute the European Economic Area);
Albania, Andorra, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Vatican.

The sender (or the beneficiary) of the SEPA credit transfer may not require that the payment account of the beneficiary (or the sender) be situated in a particular Member State as opposed to another.

¹ Or, if the transfer is carried out using the SPIN functionality, the beneficiary’s mobile phone number or tax identification number (NIF) (for natural persons) or legal person identification number (LPIN) (for legal persons).

Instant and standard transfers

SEPA credit transfers can take two forms: standard transfers or instant transfers. It is possible to carry out both in Portugal.

With standard or instant transfers, payments may be made between individuals or for goods and services, both in person and remotely (for example, when shopping online).

When the user makes a standard transfer, the funds are available on the day on which the payment order is received – in the case of transfers between accounts domiciled with the same payment service provider – or by the end of the following business day – in the case of transfers between accounts domiciled with different payment service providers.

When the user makes an instant transfer, the funds are available in the (private or corporate) beneficiary’s account within at most ten seconds, irrespective of the date and time in which the transaction takes place.

In the case of instant transfers:

The transferred funds are available in the beneficiary’s account a few seconds after the payment order is sent. The payment service provider informs the payer free of charge whether the transaction was successful. The maximum time for carrying out the transfer is ten seconds. In other words, the amount must be available in the beneficiary’s account within ten seconds after the initiation of the payment order by the payer’s payment service provider. If the transaction is not completed within the maximum time specified, the system mandatorily rejects the transaction. In which case, the payer’s payment service provider must notify the payer and immediately return the funds;

Instant transfers are possible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. For example, instant transfers may be carried out with the value arriving in the beneficiary’s account at the weekend, which does not happen in the case of standard transfers. These have time limits on the reception of the transfer order and longer time frames for executing the transaction and providing the funds.

In the euro area, any payment service provider offering standard credit transfers to its customers is also required to receive instant transfers. The cost of instant transfers must be equal to or lower than the cost of standard transfers carried out under the same circumstances.

All payment service providers offering standard credit transfers are required to allow their customers to initiate instant credit transfers from their accounts and have to provide a verification of payee service.

Payments Transfers

CONSULT HERE ALL SERVICES

Transfers — what they are

Intrabank and interbank transfers

SEPA and non-SEPA transfers

Instant and standard transfers