2025 begins with an important change in the banking sector: new regulations require banks to offer immediate transfers at the same cost as ordinary transfers. This advancement aims to simplify the financial management of citizens and businesses, speeding up money transfers without generating additional costs.
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ToggleImmediate Transfers in Practice
Immediate transfers allow money to reach its destination within seconds, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Ordinary transfers take between 1 and 2 business days, or even longer over weekends. Additionally, some banks charged higher fees for immediate transfers, discouraging their use.
With the new regulation, users can now enjoy instant transfers without worrying about additional costs. In other words, if the cost for an ordinary transfer is zero Euros or, for example, two euros, the cost for an immediate transfer must be the same. Therefore, we now have an incentive to use the immediate option (see restrictions below). It is important to note that, unlike an ordinary transfer, an immediate transfer cannot be canceled due to its immediacy. Therefore, we recommend carefully reviewing the details before proceeding with this type of operation. Using inbestMe’s “Easy Transfer” eliminates the possibility of error, as the data is automatically and securely completed during the process.
Current Restrictions and Adoption in Spain
Despite this improvement, there are still some restrictions. For example, the maximum amount for immediate transfers may vary between banks, usually set around 15,000 euros. In this regard, we have seen some banks set lower limits for immediate transfers, sometimes below 1,000 euros per day. Additionally, it is essential to note that not all banks have implemented these transfers uniformly. In Spain, most institutions, especially large ones like Banco Santander, BBVA, and CaixaBank have widely adopted this system. Neobanks like Revolut or N26 had already implemented it, while Trade Republic, for example, does not offer this option. According to our own research, we confirm that the majority of banks have adopted it, though we’ve seen limitations in some second-tier entities like ING, Selfbank, Renta 4, Caixa d’Enginyers, and MyInvestor, with cutoff times, limitations over weekends, or turning what should be instant transfers into several hours.
For clients who have scheduled recurring transfers at their bank, to benefit from immediate transfers, they must cancel the previous one and schedule a new one as an immediate transfer (if the amount is the same, doing so at the sending bank will suffice).
We expect this to improve even further in the coming days or weeks. In any case, in our opinion, users of banks experiencing limitations with this service should express their complaints to encourage full implementation.
Open Banking and its Role in Spain
The new regulation on immediate transfers aligns with the broader concept of open banking, a trend that is transforming the financial sector. Open banking is based on securely sharing financial data between entities through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). This allows users to manage their finances more efficiently and access innovative services.
The most advanced countries in open banking are the United Kingdom in Europe and the United States. Financial institutions in Spain still need to improve. According to the Yapily report (inbestMe’s provider for this service), Spain holds a prominent position in adopting open banking in Europe, but still faces significant challenges. While there is a favorable regulatory framework due to the PSD2 Directive, full adoption requires closer collaboration between traditional banks, fintechs, and regulators. In our view, implementation by banks has improved since our last review, although there are still entities in Spain (e.g., ING) that put obstacles or have errors in their systems. These issues often prevent the correct execution of the process, creating frustration for our clients, a situation entirely unrelated to inbestMe.
inbestMe, Pioneer in Open Banking Implementation
In this context, inbestMe has positioned itself as a leader in integrating open banking in the automated investment management (Robo Advisor) sector, being the only one in Spain using it so extensively. Through the implementation of advanced APIs, inbestMe has optimized connections with clients’ bank accounts, allowing transfers and data synchronization in a fast and secure manner for the vast majority of banks.
As we saw earlier, the situation in Spain is still improvable. However, in general, this integration not only improves the user experience but also ensures greater transparency and security in operations. This approach allows clients to access a personalized service that meets the demands of modern banking.
Impact for Our Clients
With the new regulation, inbestMe has decided to adopt immediate transfers as the default option in the “Easy Transfer” process (when possible by limits), as the client will pay 0 or the same as an ordinary transfer for immediacy. This means our clients will enjoy faster financial operations, speeding up deposits. Due to some banks’ restrictions, the immediate transfer will be the default option when amounts are equal to or below €1,000. For amounts above this, we will keep the ordinary transfer preselected to avoid rejections (we will raise this amount as we learn more about these limits). For traditional transfers, we generally recommend using the immediate option when limits allow, ensuring the details are entered correctly.
For clients who have scheduled recurring transfers at their bank, to benefit from immediate transfers, they must cancel the previous one and set a new one as immediate.
Additionally, we are working to make identification and management of transfers even faster on our platform as their immediacy strengthens. For all our outgoing transfers, we will apply the immediate transfer method, gaining speed also for withdrawals once the investment is liquid. It is important to note that the disinvestment process still has the same timelines (2 to 6 business days depending on the fund).
These measures reinforce our commitment to innovation and efficiency, ensuring users can manage their investments smoothly and frictionlessly. Ultimately, the move towards a faster and more accessible banking system will enhance the client experience, positioning us as leaders in the fintech sector.
The new era of immediate transfers and open banking represents a further step toward modern, client-centered financial management. As we’ve seen, there will still be challenges to overcome, but we are convinced it is the right path for more efficient and modern financial management.
At inbestMe, we are proud to be part of and lead this transformation, offering innovative solutions tailored to our users’ needs.