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Payments/HR/sct-inst

SCT Inst

SCT Inst, the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer, is what Croatian banks call instant plaćanje: a euro transfer that reaches the payee's account within 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Since 9 October 2025 every bank in Croatia must let you send and receive it, at the same fee as an ordinary transfer. In your bank app you fill in the usual payment order and tick "instant"; the bank checks the payee's name against the IBAN first. Payments between Croatian banks run through EuroNKSInst, run by the Financial Agency (FINA).
Country Croatia (HR)
What it is A SEPA credit transfer in euro executed in near real time, on the European Payments Council's SCT Inst scheme rules [4]
Who offers it Every bank: receiving since 9 Jan 2025, sending since 9 Oct 2025 [1]; FINA lists 21 EuroNKSInst participants [5]
Processed by EuroNKSInst, owned and run by FINA under HNB oversight, linked to the Eurosystem's TIPS since 24 Jun 2023 [3]
Since In kuna from 29 Oct 2020 (NKSInst); in euro from 1 Jan 2023 [4]
Cost The same as an ordinary transfer [1]; at HPB €0.35 online to another bank, €2.00 at a branch (from 15 Apr 2026) [22]
Typical limit Set by you, per order or per day; PBZ dropped its €13,300 instant cap in Oct 2025 [16] [13]
Reaches Euro accounts at banks in the SEPA area that take part in the scheme [16]
Code on paper? No code of its own. A HUB3 barcode on a slip fills in the order; you choose instant or regular

This page covers the instant transfer itself. Paying a Croatian slip by scanning its barcode is on HUB3, invoices from other SEPA countries are on EPC QR, and the app is on KEKS Pay.

How SCT Inst came to Croatia

Croatia had instant payments before it had the euro. FINA tells the story: the EPC published its euro instant scheme at the end of 2016, Croatian banks, the banking association HUB and FINA began work on a domestic version at the end of 2017, and a kuna scheme, HRK SCTInst, was adopted in mid-2018. FINA built the clearing system itself [6]. The HNB authorised the NKSInst system on 12 February 2020, and it started on 29 October 2020. From 1 January 2023, with the euro, it carried on as EuroNKSInst [4]. (FINA writes EuroNKSInst; the HNB's English pages write EuroNCSInst.)

Date Step
Mid-2018 Croatian banks adopt the HRK SCTInst scheme for kuna payments [6]
12 Feb 2020 HNB authorises NKSInst [4]
29 Oct 2020 NKSInst starts: instant payments in kuna [4]; PBZ has offered instant at the regular fee since 2020 [16]
10 Feb 2022 Zagrebačka banka launches instant payments in m-zaba and e-zaba, up to 100,000 kuna [14]
1 Jan 2023 Euro changeover; the system becomes EuroNKSInst and settles domestic euro instant payments [3]
24 Jun 2023 EuroNKSInst joins TIPS, so cross-border instant payments work [3]
9 Jan 2025 Every bank must receive instant transfers [2]
5 Oct 2025 Banks' new terms, the name check and instant limits take effect (e.g. HPB, PBZ, Zagrebačka banka) [21] [16] [15]
9 Oct 2025 Every bank must send them too, at the same fee as a regular transfer [1]

The bank list grew in steps. In June 2023 the HNB listed seven banks in the system: Addiko, BKS Bank, HPB, Istarska kreditna banka Umag, Partner banka, PBZ and Zagrebačka banka [4]. The HNB's statistics count 7 participants at the end of 2023, 9 at the end of 2024 and 21 at the end of 2025 [7]. FINA's current list of 21 includes Erste, OTP banka and Raiffeisenbank Austria [5]. HUB says many Croatian banks offered instant payments before the deadlines [1].

How much it's used. FINA reports, and the HNB publishes, the payments settled through EuroNKSInst [7]:

Year Payments of which cross-border Value
2023 1,147,704 6,500 €693 million
2024 1,983,496 43,759 €1.55 billion
2025 5,836,152 314,406 €11.24 billion

The number of payments almost tripled in 2025 and the value rose about sevenfold. The jump came with the sending deadline. In September 2025 the system carried 341,891 payments; in October 769,519, and in December 1,154,655 [10]. December 2025 alone was worth about €4.2 billion, against €321 million in September [11]. The average instant payment in 2025 was about €1,926, against €782 in 2024 (our division of the HNB's totals) [7].

It is still small next to ordinary transfers. Croatian payers sent 404.6 million national credit transfers in 2024, not counting standing orders, by the HNB's separate count of all payment providers [9]. The two counts don't measure the same thing, so we don't divide them. The HNB's own 2025 annual report says instant payments grew in the last quarter of 2025 but are still "gotovo zanemariv udio ukupnih plaćanja", an almost negligible share of all payments [8].

How to use it

  1. Open your bank app, internet banking or a branch. At Zagrebačka banka instant orders go through m-zaba, e-zaba and its branches, and any private or business customer with a transaction account can send and receive them [13]. In Erste's George you tick "SEPA Instant plaćanje" on the order [18].
  2. Fill in the usual order and choose instant. You use the existing payment forms and the same rules as for a standard order, including the model and reference number (poziv na broj) [13]. Since October 2025 you choose instant or regular for each order, at the same fee [1].
  3. Read the name check. Before you confirm, your bank checks the payee's name against the IBAN holder at the payee's bank (Verification of Payee, provjera primatelja plaćanja). HUB and the banks list four answers: full match, partial match (you are shown the correct name), no match, and check not possible [1] [13]. The HNB described three messages: match, near match and no match [12]. For a Croatian business, banks fill in the name from the official register of accounts (JRR), and at HPB you can't change it [21]. The check is free [12].
  4. Confirm. At Erste the money is reserved on your account, sent, and credited to the payee within 10 seconds; your account is debited when the payee's bank confirms, and you get a status notice [18]. You need the money on the account when you send: PBZ rejects an instant order without cover [16].
  5. Receive. Give your IBAN. Money sent to you instantly is on your account at once, at weekends and holidays too [4].

Things to know:

  • No hours. Ordinary SEPA transfers follow the timetable of FINA's EuroNKS system: an order given outside working hours, at the weekend or on a holiday is carried out the next working day [2]. Instant runs 24/7/365 [3]. FINA said in October 2025 that each transaction is executed within five seconds [12].
  • Future dates and standing orders. Zagrebačka banka and Erste let you set an instant payment for a future date and run standing orders as instant [13] [18].
  • Euro only. The payment currency is always the euro [13].
  • Sanctions checks. Banks must screen their customers against sanctions lists at least once a day, and may temporarily refuse instant orders as a result [2].
  • By phone number. FINA's register of account proxies (RPIR), started in March 2021, links a mobile number, e-mail or OIB to an IBAN; at the start only HPB and PBZ took part [23]. PBZ's #withPAY sends an instant payment to a mobile number registered in RPIR, at another participating bank [17].

Limits and fees

The rules. The fee for an instant transfer must equal that of a regular one [1], and the HNB adds that it may not be higher [8]. That doesn't make it free: Croatian banks charge for many transfers. You may set your own instant limit, per day or per transaction, and change or remove it [16].

Bank Limit Fee
Zagrebačka banka Optional: per order or a daily total, set in m-zaba, e-zaba or a branch [13] Same as a regular payment, by the bank's tariff [13]
PBZ Set by you, daily or per transaction; the old €13,300 cap was removed in Oct 2025 [16]. PBZ digital banking's overall limit is €7,000 a day and €7,000 a month when contracted at a branch [17] For business clients, €0.43 per transfer, instant or regular, inside PBZ or to other banks, in its Sept 2025 notice [16]
Erste banka Optional; set in George under Profil > Limiti. It covers every channel, including the branch, standing orders and KEKS Pay, but George still stops at your daily payment limit [18] Same with or without instant [18]
HPB — €0.35 online or via a payment initiation service to another bank, €2.00 at a branch, regular or instant; €10.00 for an urgent TARGET order (from 15 Apr 2026) [22]
Raiffeisenbank (business) Initial daily limit €5,000 per account, changeable in mojaRBA BIZ [20] Equal to a regular payment [20]

Erste sets no initial instant limit for business clients since 5 October 2025 [18].

An old figure. The HNB's question-and-answer page on the system still gives a maximum of €100,000 per instant payment [4]. The EPC's 2025 rulebook, in force since 5 October 2025, says "there is no longer a maximum amount" in the scheme [26]. What binds you is your own bank's limits.

Limits change; check your bank's current terms.

Paying shops and businesses

You can pay any business by instant transfer when you have its IBAN, and Croatian apps fill in a Croatian business's name from the JRR register [21]. The HNB lists online shops, taxis, restaurant bills, utilities, parking and tolls among the uses it sees for instant payments [4]. We found no Croatian checkout that names SCT Inst as its rail as of 20 October 2026, and no national QR for shops (see the HR report).

Businesses. Since 5 October 2025 companies can send instant payments in batch files (pain.001), in a separate file format at PBZ and Erste [16] [18]. They can switch the name check off for those files, at HPB and Raiffeisenbank for example [21] [20]. PBZ advised firms to bring instant into their processes gradually and to consider limits [16].

Paying across borders

EuroNKSInst has settled cross-border instant payments through TIPS since 24 June 2023 [3]. The HNB's tables show the first 69 cross-border payments in June 2023 [10]. In 2025 cross-border payments were 314,406, about 5 % of the count and 10 % of the value [7]. PBZ lists where you can send: the 27 EU countries, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican, at banks that take part in the scheme [16].

In EU countries outside the euro the name check starts on 9 July 2027, the HNB said [12]; Erste expects instant and the check there by the second half of 2027, and some banks offer them already [18]. At HPB a cross-border euro transfer costs the same as a domestic one to another bank: €0.35 online, regular or instant [22].

Is there an SCT Inst QR code in Croatia?

No. SCT Inst has no code of its own: you send it to an IBAN.

  • On a Croatian bill, the code is the HUB3 barcode, a PDF417 symbol on the uplatnica (see HUB3 in Croatia). Scanning it fills in an ordinary payment order; at Zagrebačka banka instant is an option on that same order [13]. The slip doesn't choose instant or regular. At HPB, the name check isn't run on "Slikaj i plati" scans to a business's account, because the name comes from the JRR register [21].
  • On an invoice from another SEPA country, you may find an EPC QR code. Its guideline says offering the feature is optional for banks [28], and Croatian support is unconfirmed (see EPC QR in Croatia).
  • At a shop terminal, the EPC points to a separate document, EPC024-22, for QR codes that start an instant transfer [28]; that work underlies the EN 18184 standard. We found no Croatian deployment as of 20 October 2026.
  • A KEKS Pay QR code on a café receipt is paid in the KEKS Pay app [25]. KEKS Pay is Erste's app [24], and Erste's instant limit also applies in it [18]. Its QR format isn't published, and we found no source saying which rail each KEKS Pay payment uses (see KEKS Pay).

Underneath, banks exchange SCT Inst payments as ISO 20022 XML messages, the FI-to-FI customer credit transfer pacs.008.001.08, in the 2019 version of the standard [27]. From 15 November 2026 EPC payment messages can no longer carry an unstructured address [27]. Companies send them to their bank as pain.001 files and get status back as pain.002 [18].

Safety: the fake buyer on Njuškalo

On 16 October 2026 Erste warned of fraudsters posing as buyers on classified sites such as Njuškalo and Vinted. Once a sale is agreed, they send a link and claim you must confirm a payment or the receipt of money; the aim is to steal your banking login and the codes that approve transactions [19]. An instant transfer leaves no time to stop it: PBZ notes that the 10-second execution leaves the banks little room to catch errors [16].

  • Selling something? You don't need to click anything to receive money. Never enter your mToken serial number, one-time passwords, activation codes or login data on a link; if you did, call your bank at once [19].
  • Take the name check seriously. If you confirm a payment after a no-match or partial-match result and the money reaches the wrong account, Erste says the bank isn't obliged to return it [18]; the HNB says the same of any bank once you authorise [12].
  • Set a limit, and if no confirmation arrives within 10 seconds, wait for the status before sending again, so you don't pay twice [16].

SCT Inst and the alternatives in Croatia

Way to pay Best for Notes
Instant transfer (SCT Inst) Rent, a deposit, a tradesperson, a friend, at any hour Within 10 seconds, 24/7; same fee as a regular transfer [1]
Regular SEPA transfer Anything not urgent Follows the EuroNKS timetable; next working day outside hours [2]
Urgent order (TARGET) Large same-day payments in bank hours €10.00 at HPB, against €0.35 for an instant one online [22]
HUB3 slip scan Utility, telecom and tax bills Fills in the order; you still pick instant or regular
Phone-number payments Friends whose IBAN you don't know PBZ's #withPAY via FINA's RPIR [17]; Zagrebačka banka's IziPay, to an account at any Croatian bank, free [29]
KEKS Pay Sending money with cards of any bank, café QR codes, parking Erste's app; no fees for sending, it says [24]
Card Shops and online 645 million domestic card payments in 2024 [9]

See the Croatia payments overview for the banks, cash and remittances.

Sources

  1. Hrvatska udruga banaka (HUB), "Instant plaćanja dostupna svima: brže i sigurnije uz uslugu provjere primatelja plaćanja", 3 Oct 2025. https://hub.hr/hr/instant-placanja-dostupna-svima-brze-i-sigurnije-uz-uslugu-provjere-primatelja-placanja
  2. Hrvatska udruga banaka (HUB), "SEPA instant plaćanja – novosti u 2025. godini", 8 Jan 2025. https://www.hub.hr/hr/sepa-instant-placanja-novosti-u-2025-godini
  3. Hrvatska narodna banka (HNB), "EuroNCSInst", 1 Jan 2023 (modified 26 Jun 2023). https://www.hnb.hr/en/core-functions/payment-system/payment-systems/euroncsinst
  4. Hrvatska narodna banka (HNB), "Questions and Answers on the NKSInst payment system", 5 Nov 2020 (modified 15 Jun 2023). https://www.hnb.hr/en/-/pitanja-i-odgovori-o-nksinst-platnom-sustavu
  5. Financijska agencija (FINA), "EuroNKSInst", 1 Dec 2023 (page metadata). https://www.fina.hr/eng/financial-services-and-payment-systems/payment-systems/euronksinst
  6. Financijska agencija (FINA), "Kako smo gradili instant platni sustav?", 17 Nov 2020. https://fina.hr/-/kako-smo-gradili-instant
  7. Hrvatska narodna banka (HNB), "EuroNCSInst" (payment system statistics, Tables 1–5, source Fina), modified 3 Mar 2026. https://www.hnb.hr/en/statistics/statistical-data/payment-systems/euroncsinst
  8. Hrvatska narodna banka (HNB), "Godišnje izvješće 2025.", 27 Jul 2026 (PDF creation date). https://www.hnb.hr/documents/20182/5781413/h-gi-2025.pdf/2da5b189-e9e1-884d-1b3c-1cad6779037a?version=2.0&t=1785149241574&download=true
  9. Hrvatska narodna banka (HNB), "Bezgotovinske platne transakcije 2024.", 12 Jun 2025. https://www.hnb.hr/documents/20182/5340292/h-bpt-2024.pdf/a69d4b59-a6ad-5981-7f90-593de2beb464
  10. Hrvatska narodna banka (HNB), "Table 4: Payment system EuroNCSInst – number of payment transactions per month", modified 3 Mar 2026. https://www.hnb.hr/documents/20182/5638016/e-encsinst-04-2025
  11. Hrvatska narodna banka (HNB), "Table 5: Payment system EuroNCSInst – value of payment transactions per month", modified 3 Mar 2026. https://www.hnb.hr/documents/20182/5638016/e-encsinst-05-2025
  12. Novi list (Hina), "Sve banke su vam dužne osigurati instant plaćanje. Ovdje je sve što morate znati o tome", 3 Oct 2025. https://www.novilist.hr/novosti/hrvatska/sve-banke-su-vam-duzne-osigurati-instant-placanje-ovdje-je-sve-sto-morate-znati-o-tome/
  13. Zagrebačka banka, "Instant plaćanja on-line bankarstvom", read 20 Oct 2026. https://www.zaba.hr/home/instant-placanja
  14. Zagrebačka banka, "Uveli smo uslugu Instant plaćanje", 10 Feb 2022. https://www.zaba.hr/home/o-nama/zagrebacka-banka-uvela-uslugu-instant-placanje
  15. Zagrebačka banka, "Novosti u plaćanjima za klijente fizičke osobe od 5. listopada 2025.", 25 Sep 2025. https://www.zaba.hr/home/footer/uvjeti-poslovanja/novosti-u-placanjima-za-klijente-fizicke-osobe-od-5-listopada-2025
  16. Privredna banka Zagreb (PBZ), "Obavijest" on SCT and SCT Instant changes from 5 October 2025, 18 Sep 2025 (PDF creation date). https://www.pbz.hr/dam/jcr:2ddc5d85-883b-4ce0-be8f-64a68ab26c0e/ObavijestSEPA_09_25.pdf
  17. Privredna banka Zagreb (PBZ), "Opće informacije o usluzi on-line bankarstva [PBZ digitalno bankarstvo]", 8 Jun 2026 (in force; PDF created 3 Jun 2026). https://www.pbz.hr/document/documents/PBZ/digitalno/OI-digitalno-bankarstvo-08062026.pdf
  18. Erste banka, "Instant plaćanja i Provjera primatelja plaćanja", read 20 Oct 2026. https://www.erstebank.hr/hr/instant-placanja
  19. Erste banka, "U tijeku je pokušaj prijevare", 16 Oct 2026. https://www.erstebank.hr/hr/press/priopcenja-za-medije/2026/10/16/u-tijeku-pokusaj-prijevare
  20. Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA), "Verification of Payee, Instant Payment and Limit" (business clients), 19 Mar 2026 (page metadata). https://www.rba.hr/en/sme/products-and-services/daily-banking/instant-payment.html
  21. Hrvatska poštanska banka (HPB), "Obavijest o regulatornim promjenama u platnom prometu za fizičke osobe i poslovne subjekte u primjeni od 5. listopada 2025.", 1 Oct 2025. https://www.hpb.hr/UserDocsImages/dokumenti/VoP obavijest za web_čistopis-20251001.pdf?vel=111502
  22. Hrvatska poštanska banka (HPB), "Izvadak iz Odluke o naknadama u poslovanju s fizičkim osobama od 15.4.2026. godine: Platni promet", 15 Apr 2026. https://www.hpb.hr/UserDocsImages/opci-uvjeti-poslovanja/26/Izvadak iz Odluke o naknadama - Platni promet.pdf?vel=135755
  23. Financijska agencija (FINA), "Od danas IBAN može biti i broj mobitela, OIB ili e-mail", 22 Mar 2021. https://www.fina.hr/novosti/od-danas-iban-moze-biti-i-broj-mobitela-oib-ili-e-mail
  24. KEKS Pay, "KEKS Pay - aplikacija za brzo slanje i primanje novca - bez naknada" (homepage), read 20 Oct 2026. https://www.kekspay.hr/
  25. KEKS Pay, "Skeniraj i plati, online i na fizičkim mjestima", read 20 Oct 2026. https://www.kekspay.hr/mogucnosti/prodajna-mjesta/
  26. European Payments Council, "SEPA Instant Credit Transfer Scheme Rulebook 2025 Version 1.0" (EPC004-16), 28 Nov 2024. https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/sites/default/files/kb/file/2024-11/EPC004-16 2025 SCT Instant Rulebook v1.0.pdf
  27. European Payments Council, "SEPA Instant Credit Transfer Scheme Inter-PSP Implementation Guidelines" (EPC122-16, 2025 version 1.0, with the 15 November 2026 address notice), 6 Oct 2025. https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/sites/default/files/kb/file/2025-10/EPC122-16 SCT Inst Inter-PSP IG 2025 V1.0.pdf
  28. European Payments Council, "Quick Response Code: Guidelines to Enable the Data Capture for the Initiation of a SEPA Credit Transfer" (EPC069-12 v3.1), 19 Mar 2024. https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/sites/default/files/kb/file/2024-03/EPC069-12 v3.1 Quick Response Code - Guidelines to Enable the Data Capture for the Initiation of an SCT.pdf
  29. Zagrebačka banka, "IziPay - jednostavno plaćanje mobitelom", read 20 Oct 2026. https://www.zaba.hr/home/mzaba-izipay

Researched 20 October 2026. Limits and bank offerings change; the banks' own pages are authoritative.

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