Santander and Iberpay in Spain join EPC’s OCT Inst scheme as inaugural participants

Spanish banking giant Santander and payment services firm Iberpay have been selected as the inaugural participants in the One-Leg Out (OLO) Instant Credit Transfer (OCT Inst) scheme, led by the European Payments Council (EPC).

The OCT Inst scheme aims to establish the necessary frameworks and processes to facilitate international account-to-account (A2A) payments across various currencies. It marks the first initiative by the EPC to support transactions where only one payment service provider operates within the geographical scope of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), and it commenced operations last November.

As the first participants, Iberpay will function as the clearing and settlement mechanism (CSM), facilitated through Santander, for OCT Inst transactions. Iberpay has been entrusted with the role of OCT Inst Processor, responsible for providing the infrastructure and services essential for processing international cross-currency instant transfers under the scheme.

The pair have successfully conducted the first international instant transfers through OCT Inst this month. Full service adoption among banks in Spain is scheduled for October, with additional banks expected to connect to Iberpay’s service in the coming months.

Juan Luis Encinas, CEO at Iberpay, expressed that the firm’s involvement in the scheme will empower its banking partners to introduce “new innovative services, enhance the customer experience, and maintain a high level of competitiveness.” The company aims to improve international cross-currency payments in terms of processing speed, 24×7 operation, information transparency, accessibility, and cost reduction.

Giorgio Andreoli, Director General of the EPC, emphasized that OCT Inst will provide “a multilateral scheme-based approach in a multilateral world.”

In the meantime, the EPC is inviting stakeholders interested in the evolution of the OCT Inst scheme to participate in its public consultation, which concludes on 9 June.

Source: fintechfutures.com

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