Instant Payments
Instant payments advisory helps institutions design and run payments that settle in seconds, around the clock. Payment Labs advises on scheme connectivity, regulatory readiness, fraud and Verification of Payee, liquidity, 24/7 operations and cross-border linkages such as Project Nexus, across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Four issues shaping Instant Payment programmes
Instant is the baseline, so performance is the differentiator
Two euro-area deadlines have passed. For institutions in the euro area the question is no longer launch but availability, speed and cost at scale. Non-euro EU institutions have until January and July 2027.
Fraud controls, not speed, shape the customer experience
Verification of Payee warns payers of any mismatch between the account identifier and the payee's name before a payment is sent. Instant settlement leaves little room to correct errors afterwards, so fraud and payee verification controls must be designed into the payment journey, not added later.
24/7 liquidity and operations are the hidden cost
Payments that settle at any hour need liquidity management, monitoring, exception handling and support that also run at any hour. This operating model, more than the scheme connection itself, drives programme cost and risk.
Cross-border instant arrives through linkages
Nexus Global Payments was founded in 2025 by central banks and instant payment system operators from India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, and Indonesia joined in 2026. A PayNet and NETS joint venture was appointed technical operator in February 2026, with go-live targeted for 2027. Nexus is not yet operational, but ISO 20022 data, screening and liquidity readiness take time.
See our research on Project Nexus.
What our Instant Payments advisory
delivers
01
Instant payments strategy and scheme selection
02
IP Regulation readiness assessment
03
Verification of Payee design
04
Real-time fraud and risk controls
05
Sanctions and compliance screening model
06
24/7 liquidity and settlement design
07
24/7 operations and resilience model
08
Cross-border linkage readiness
How an engagement works
Assess
Review current rails, volumes, fraud exposure and regulatory gaps.
Design
Define the target journey, controls, liquidity and operating model.
Deliver
Support build, certification and launch.