OCT Inst
Published on
16/09/2026
Updated on
16/09/2026
Reading time
4 min
Last updated: 16 September 2026
OCT Inst (One-Leg Out Instant Credit Transfer) is the European Payments Council scheme for international instant credit transfers where only one side lies within SEPA. The scheme does not cover the whole payment, only the Euro Leg – the part settled inside SEPA. The rulebook accordingly describes OCT Inst as “a payment instrument for the execution of the Euro Leg of international instant credit transfer-based payment transactions”. The other side is called the Non-Euro Leg; both terms are used below as the rulebook uses them.
How it differs from what exists
Against SCT Inst the difference is not speed but reach: SCT Inst is built for payments that run in euro and inside SEPA from end to end. OCT Inst applies as soon as one side lies outside. At least one leg must be denominated in euro; the other may be in any currency. The scheme is deliberately built on SCT Inst.
Choose the scheme you want to see:
| Feature | SCT | SCT Inst | OCT Inst |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | January 2008 | November 2017 | November 2023 |
| Obligation | adherence formally voluntary, effectively unavoidable through the SEPA Regulation | mandatory under the Instant Payments Regulation: receiving since January 2025, sending since October 2025; outside the euro area in 2027 | voluntary |
| Reach | both sides inside SEPA | both sides inside SEPA | one side outside SEPA |
| Currency | euro | euro | at least one leg in euro, the other in any currency |
| Time limit | one business day | five seconds to confirmation, time-out after seven seconds | ten seconds in the Euro Leg, time-out after 20, final deadline 25 |
| Verification of Payee | yes, mandatory in the euro area since October 2025 | yes, mandatory in the euro area since October 2025 | not covered by the VoP scheme |
| Clearing systems | STEP2, the Bundesbank SEPA-Clearer and other systems | RT1, TIPS and other systems | the existing instant systems; in practice the TIPS cross-currency service |
Timeline and current state
The scheme has been in force since 28 November 2023; the first participants (Iberpay and Santander) were announced in May 2024. The rulebook carries the number EPC158-22. OCT Inst gained practical weight with the cross-currency service of TIPS, which has been open to all TIPS participants since October 2025 and is built explicitly on the OCT Inst scheme; the currencies involved are (as of 2026) the euro, the Swedish krona and the Danish krone.
Like all EPC schemes, OCT Inst is developed further in a fixed cycle. Which version currently applies and which changes have been adopted can be found on the pages of the EPC.
Verification of Payee is not supported so far: the VoP scheme covers SEPA credit transfers only. The EPC has explicitly left a later extension to OCT Inst open, without committing to a date.
The four roles
The scheme knows four roles, two for each direction. Outgoing, the payer's PSP hands over to the exit PSP, which takes the payment out of the Euro Leg. Incoming, the entry PSP takes the payment in and passes it on to the payee's PSP. Entry and exit PSP are the real innovation: they are the gate to the Euro Leg and can offer that role as a business of its own.
Messages
The Euro Leg uses ISO 20022 throughout, currently on the basis of the 2019 version. The EPC implementation guidelines map the rulebook data sets to the following messages:
- pacs.008 – the payment itself; the same message also carries the payment of inquiry fees.
- pacs.002 – the positive or negative confirmation.
- pacs.004 – the return and, as one of two options, the answer to a recall.
- camt.056 – the recall.
- camt.029 – the answer to a recall or to an inquiry.
- camt.027 – the inquiry.
- pacs.028 – the status request.
What OCT Inst has in common with SCT Inst makes implementation easier for SEPA PSPs.
Deadlines
The clock starts with the Euro Leg Time Stamp. Outgoing it is applied by the payer's PSP on receipt of the instruction, incoming by the entry PSP after validation. From there three marks apply: ten seconds as the target for the confirmation, 20 seconds as the time-out – exceed it and the payment has to be rejected – and 25 seconds by which the confirmation must have reached the starting point.
Clearing, currency conversion and charges
In the Euro Leg, processing runs over the clearing and settlement systems already in place there. The scheme does not prescribe any particular system: the EPC explicitly refers to the "existing intermediary PSPs and Clearing and Settlement Mechanisms (CSMs) operating in the Euro Leg". Those systems are answerable to their own participants, not to the scheme.
Cover works the same way as for instant credit transfers: the system of the entry PSP instantly reserves the funds as settlement cover for the payment. And as with SCT Inst there is a reachability commitment – a participant undertakes to act at least in the role of the payee's PSP and to accept payments from every entry PSP. In practice, processing today runs mainly over the TIPS cross-currency service; bilateral arrangements remain possible alongside it.
Who performs the currency conversion is not determined by the scheme. It is explicitly "agnostic" as to whether, how, where in the chain and by whom conversion is done – so the exchange may take place in the Non-Euro Leg, but equally at the entry or exit PSP. The only requirement is that every detail of the conversion be made fully transparent.
The maximum amount stands at 100,000 euro (as of 2026); it is reviewed annually and can be adjusted where needed.