SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (Echtzeitüberweisung) combines the zero-fee advantage of bank transfers with near-instant settlement — funds arrive at your crypto exchange in under 10 seconds, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including weekends and public holidays.
Standard SEPA transfers are free and safe but take 1–3 business days. Card payments are instant but cost 2–4% in fees. SEPA Instant (formally: SEPA Instant Credit Transfer / SCT Inst) eliminates this trade-off — it is a true real-time bank transfer that arrives in under 10 seconds with zero or near-zero fees, around the clock.
SEPA Instant uses the same IBAN-based routing as standard SEPA but processes through a real-time payment rail instead of the batch processing system used by standard SEPA. When you send a SEPA Instant transfer, your bank validates and forwards the payment within seconds. The receiving bank (the exchange's banking partner) credits the account almost simultaneously. The maximum transaction amount under the SEPA Instant scheme was raised to €100,000 in 2024 — covering the vast majority of retail crypto purchases.
As of 2026, SEPA Instant (Echtzeitüberweisung) is mandatory for all eurozone banks under EU Regulation 2024/886, which required full rollout by October 2025. This means every German bank — including all Sparkasse branches, all Volksbank and Raiffeisenbank branches, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Postbank, ING Germany, DKB, N26, Comdirect, and Targobank — must now offer SEPA Instant at no surcharge over standard SEPA.
If SEPA Instant is not available or you prefer it, standard SEPA remains an excellent choice. It is free, universally accepted, and — crucially — it is processed by your own bank with no third-party intermediary. This makes it the most legally clean and audit-friendly method for crypto purchases, which matters if you ever need to demonstrate the source of funds to a German tax authority (Finanzamt) or exchange compliance team.
For non-EUR transfers (e.g., from a GBP or USD account), some exchanges accept SWIFT wire transfers. These typically incur a fee of €15–€25 per transfer plus the exchange's own conversion rate. German residents with EUR accounts should always use SEPA rather than SWIFT — faster, free, and simpler.
Create your account and complete KYC with your German ID. Bank transfers work for all verification levels, though higher limits require full verification.
Go to Deposit EUR and select Bank Transfer / SEPA. Note the beneficiary IBAN, BIC, and the unique payment reference code. This reference is critical — do not omit it.
Log in to your banking app (DKB, N26, ING, Sparkasse, Deutsche Bank etc.). Create a new transfer, enter the IBAN, amount and reference. Select "Echtzeitüberweisung" (SEPA Instant) if available. Confirm with your banking PIN or TAN.
SEPA Instant funds arrive in seconds; standard SEPA in 1–3 business days. Once your EUR balance is credited, navigate to Buy, select your cryptocurrency and confirm the purchase.
