FAQs on Instant Payments & VoP

SEPA instant credit transfers (SCT Inst) is the instant version of SEPA credit transfers. SEPA Instant Payments enable funds transfers in as fast as 10 seconds, available 24/7 and 365 days per year. There are multiple Instant Payments schemes for different geographies and currenies. SEPA Instant Payments are in EURO only.

Instant Payments offer the advantage of speed, providing fast transactions and immediate confirmation. Instant Payments also have 24/7 availability without cut-off-times (COT).

SEPA Inst will not become the standard. You need to indicate in the file name or in the payment itself if you want your payments to be executed instantly or via the regular way.

Verification of Payee (VoP) is the IBAN – Name check, ensuring the payee’s details (either name or e.g., LEI) match the payee's account holder’s information (IBAN). It applies for both SEPA instant credit transfers and SEPA credit transfers. As of October 2025, ING offices in the EURO zone will provide VoP to the extent that the beneficiary's PSP is also located in the EURO zone.

VoP will become available throughout the EURO zone for SEPA Credit Transfers and for SEPA Instant Credit Transfers (both singles and batches) - all credit transfers in EURO to banks in the EU (limited to EURO zone until mid-2027), except for high value payments.

Yes. VoP is free of charge according to Opens in a new tabEU Instant Payments Regulation (IPR).

It is mandatory for the bank to provide the service. Clients can opt-out for batches. On the incoming side, the decision is with the payer.

It enhances confidence that payments are made to the intended beneficiary by preventing accidental transfers to the wrong account and making it more difficult for fraudsters to redirect payments.

In all cases, VoP is carried out before the start of the payment execution. VoP is therefore not deducted from the maximum time of 10 seconds for the execution of SEPA Instant Payments.

This depends on the payee's bank and the algorithm used by the validating entity. This algorithm is not disclosed.

From January 2025, receiving SEPA instant credit transfers is already available for all EURO countries. The majority of ING countries are also live with outgoing instant payments. 
As of October 2025, instant payments initiation and VoP check of SEPA instant and classic credit transfers across all the channels (including batches) will be available for all EURO countries (to the extent the beneficiary PSP is also located in the EURO zone).
For non-EURO EEA countries, the timeline of receiving and initiating SEPA instant credit transfers will be January 2027 and October 2027, respectively.

No, unfortunately the timelines are very short, which means that there will be no time for a test period. 
For single payments entered in our interactive channel, VoP result will be displayed after entering the name and the IBAN, and saving the payment. For Batch payments clients have the choice to opt-out. In line with comments from EPC - for packages customers are advised to make use of the opt-out option to allow for time to adjust and test their internal processes and systems.
The current way of working for H2H will remain as it is.

A SEPA Instant Payments batch can only consist of Instant Payments, no SEPA classic transfers or other currencies. From October 2025, initiation of instant batch payments will be supported in all initiation channels, including InsideBusiness Payments (IBP) and Host-2-Host (H2H) channels. Detailed format descriptions are available on Opens in a new tabSWIFT Mystandards or contact your Transaction Services contact person.

Instant SEPA credit transfers and classic SEPA credit transfers need to be sent in different files in H2H channels. Supported formats:

• SCT classic: Pain.001.001.003 & Pain.001.001.009
• SCT Instant: Pain.001.001.009

For more information Opens a pdfInstant Payments and VoP Connectivity Channels.

Clients need to use request type pain.001.ict and pain.001.vop for respectively instant payments and verification of payee. These must be set up correctly in collaboration with ING team (implementation manager or Client service team).

Clients must use the correct formats and maximum number of transactions/instructions.

Swift customer needs to also use a specific naming convention for IP and VoP files:

• Name of IP files should start with 'INST_'
• Name of VoP Files should start with 'VOP_'

For more information Opens a pdfInstant Payments and VoP Connectivity Channels.

For EBICs there is no specific file convention. Client must request the set up of the order type for Instant Payments and VoP. Therefore clients need to reach out to their client service team. Once it is set up, clients can send the file as usual.

Same as the regular flow of initiating a classic SEPA credit transfer, only to select priority instant when creating the payment.

Please find detailed instructions in the IBP user manual Opens a pdfInsideBusiness User Manual.

Important notes for Instant Payments import in IBP:

• SEPA Instant Packages: Payments can only be imported as Instant if a Creditor Agent is provided in the oneXML file.
• For MICT (SEPA Instant Payment with Batch Booking = True) uploaded in IBP:
  • Once authorized, the status will show as ‘Forwarded for Processing’.
  • However, if the file is rejected or processed, this status will not be reflected in IBP.

The value limit of a single SCT Inst is 1 billion minus 1 cent. However, we strongly advise you to contact your ING Transaction Services contact or Client service team in case you foresee a large transaction.

Yes. Clients can set their own payment limits per transaction on outgoing payments. Current mandate structure remain the same also for instant.

Clients will receive instant confirmation, either on the screen for IBP or in pain.002 format for H2H channels.

Within 10 seconds.

Instant Payments are booked with value and bookdate = D, this means that incoming payments become interest-bearing on the day of receipt. Interest is applied over the end-of-day currency balance using simple interest based on actual/360.

The sweep will take place at the end of the calender day as the last booking of the day.*

* local specific may apply

Yes, it is possible to make an appointment payment and pay on a specified date for SEPA instant payments.

For H2H channels, VoP is OPT-OUT by default, meaning that VoP will not be performed. To perform a VoP check in H2H channels, clients need to upload pain.001 file with the file name VOP_XXX_DDMMYYYY / VOP_xxxxxxxxxxx.xml (Only prefix 'VOP_' is a must, including the underscore). Detailed format descriptions are available on Opens in a new tabSWIFT Mystandards or contact your Transaction Services contact person. More instructions are available Opens a pdfInstant Payments and VoP Connectivity Channels.

In IBP, through Manual entry, the verification occurs when the payment is saved (so not during the initial entry of the beneficiary’s name). Through File import, the payments will be verified but verification is optional for imported payments. On the Import File screen, clients must specify whether they want to verify payees. This is a mandatory field, regardless of payment type or destination country. No action is required to activate VoP.

Yes. In clients’ general settings, clients can set a default preference for VoP during file import. If you choose ‘Do not verify payees’, this option will be pre-selected in the mandatory field on the import screen.

VoP results are reported back in pain.002.001.10 format in H2H channels, following a stoplight model:

• Red: no match – adjust or ignore
• Yellow: close match – please check based on the name provided
• Green: full match – good to go
• VoP failed

Based on the results, the details in the address book should be updated accordingly. Detailed format descriptions are available on Opens in a new tabSWIFT Mystandards or contact your Transaction Services contact person.

• For manually created payments, the result is displayed immediately on-screen and can also be viewed later in the payment details status section.
• For imported batches, a summary of verification results appears on the imported file details screen. Individual payee results are available in the contained payments section. A new view called ‘Not Fully Matched’ highlights all payments with incomplete matches.

A technical warning indicates that the VoP check could not be completed due to issues such as:

• No response from the beneficiary’s bank
• Inactive account
• Other technical errors

Yes. VoP is an additional service. If a technical issue prevents verification, clients may proceed with the payment as usual. A technical warning has no impact on payment processing.

No. It is up to the client to decide how the bank should process no matches.

The correct legal name or LEI of the account holder as well as the correct IBAN number.

When opt-out in our H2H channels (meaning following regular way of sending payments to us), we will not perform any VoP check. In case you send a batch containing a single payment through our interactive channel (IBP), we are obliged to execute a VoP check.

Normally it takes less than 1 second per transaction. In case of traffic, it may take 3 seconds per transaction. Batches need time to unpack and repack the answers.

For both H2H and interactive channels, VoP will be performed before authorising the payment, regardless of the payment being future-dated or for immediate processing.

No. In that case VoP will not be able to be performed.

VoP check will report with a match result provided that there is a match with one of the account holders, also if only one beneficiary has been inputted.

VoP check fails means that we didn't get an answer. In IBP, the payment may be blocked or flagged for manual review. Corporates should have procedures for resolving mismatches, including contacting the payee or verifying data accuracy, and adjusting address book.

Yes. Clients can override the VoP results. If there is a no match result and the client consents to the payment, it accepts the risk of the payment being credited to a person other than the intended payee inputted. ING will not block such payments.

For virtual account banks, in reality each account is a real account with its own IBAN. If the client has 10 virtual accounts with all different names, then the VoP will be completed on an account level.

No, the European Regulation 2024/886 and the EPC scheme do not provide for this possibility. However, it is possible to agree on an optional service at the community level. For example, this is the choice made by Spain.

No, for H2H channels the pain.001 format only allows you to communicate one beneficiary ID.

In both cases clients may accept the risk that the payment may be credited to the account of an unintended payee. If the money in the end lands in the wrong beneficiary, the payer is liable.

The company will have refused a service that could reveal that the account holder is not the beneficiary to which it is thinking of sending funds and that should protect it from certain frauds or errors.
As it does today, the company assumes the consequences of executing a transfer order on the basis of the account identifier (IBAN), including when there is a discrepancy between the name of the beneficiary and that of the account holder.

Yes, but this is depending on your IT systems and exact setup. ING will provide Pain.002.001.03 order status reporting for batches sent in through the H2H channels which enables you to automate the processing of the VoP results.

We will deliver pain.002 to the same channel as we receive the payment from.

Only name/LEI and IBAN. Address is not verified as part of VoP.

For H2H channels this is not applicable. For IBP, VoP check is done before approving the order.

The client can remove the payment with matching issues from the batch and treat it separately. This means that the remaining part of the batch can be authorised and processed, and that one payment can be updated and authorised separately.

No. This is not allowed and therefore not possible.

No. The VoP service is designed to alert clients of potential discrepancies between the entered payee name and the actual account holder. It does not affect the processing or acceptance of payments by the receiving bank.

ING has been processing both outgoing and incoming Instant Payments in various SEPA countries for years with comparable success rates. Now that the Instant Payment Regulation is taking effect across the eurozone in the EU, we are seeing varying processing times depending on the countries and banks involved. Because the regulation sets strict processing time limits (a maximum of 10 seconds), Instant Payments are – by design – more prone to time out (and therefore be rejected) than regular SEPA credit transfers. We therefore suggest monitoring payment execution and pay close attention to possible rejections (non-executed payments). We advise you to have a robust process in place to efficiently resubmit rejected Instant Payments or to initiate those as regular SEPA credit transfers.

VoP check in H2H follows a two-step approach. VoP file is not a payment file. Clients need to see how to integrate VoP flow into their payment flow. To trigger a VoP the file name needs to be changed, and clients need to be able to work with pain.002 file to receive the results in H2H channels.

That depends on your current processes and workflows.
However, if you make use of one of our H2H channels, you have the choice to opt out of VoP. This will result in no impact on your outgoing payment flows. 
With regards to incoming payments, please ensure that your client uses the correct name as registered with your bank, to avoid close matches or no matches.

For H2H channels, corporates must integrate VoP checks into their payment initiation workflows, ensure accurate beneficiary data entry, and possibly update ERP or treasury systems to support API or batch verification.

Yes they are. All UTF-8 characters including Cyrillic are supported, if they are in the source names.

Yes, because on the payment receipt your payers can/must undergo a VoP check. There is a possibility that your name doesn't match the name entered by your payers. Hence please make sure that they use your legal name as beneficiary info.

No updates of the agreement is needed. We have incorporated all relevant items in the Wholesale Banking terms and conditions.

There is no difference in liability if the Payment Service Providers (PSPs) have correctly fulfilled their mission by communicating the VoP results and informing the payer of the risks associated with executing a transaction when the VoP result is not a 'match'.

There will be no impact. Intraday limits will stay as it is.