Zagreb - Banks and other payment service providers have until 9 January 2025 to make it possible for their customers to receive instant credit transfers, while sending such transfers should be ensured by October, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Davor Zoričić, said on Tuesday.
"Instant credit transfers are a type of credit transfers where funds are transferred from the payer's account to the payee's account within 10 seconds of receiving the payment order, at any time of the day and every day of the year," Zoričić said in Parliament while presenting amendments to a set of five laws concerning payment and electronic money and the implementation of the EU Regulation on instant credit transfers.
"The regulation stipulates that payment service providers offering the service of receiving and sending credit transfers should enable their customers to receive instant credit transfers as of 9 January 2025 and to send them as of 9 October 2025," he said.
The state secretary explained that instant credit transfers differ from other credit transfers in that they can be processed even after the business hours of the bank or other payment service provider, and the funds are credited to the recipient's account within ten seconds, while in the case of other credit transfers this is done by the end of the next business day at the latest.
"Funds must be visible in the recipient's account within ten seconds, they must be transferred from the payer's account. This is valid for all days of the year, any time of the day and for all payments, domestic and foreign," Zoričić said.
When it comes to the bodies in charge of enforcement, the Croatian National Bank (HNB) will be responsible for credit institutions, and the Croatian Financial Services Supervision Agency (HANFA) for other financial sector entities.
"The regulation does not apply to the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development, that is not the subject of this law. As for the amount of fees, it is equal to the fee for credit transfers, it must be the same," Zoričić said.
Asked what would be done to ensure quick and effective notification, he said that this would be done in accordance with the Cyber Security Act, which provides for an incident reporting platform. The details will be stipulated by HANFA and HNB.