Devengo Becomes the First Non-Bank Institution Authorized to Process Instant Cross-Border Payments Under the New European Standard

WHY THIS MATTERS: The global payment landscape is undergoing a quiet revolution, transitioning away from the sluggish, opaque legacy networks that have historically defined international settlements. The real significance here isn’t just a certification; it’s the formal integration of non-bank agility into the core of Europe’s instant payment infrastructure. By bridging the SEPA zone with emerging markets like Mexico and Argentina through instant rails, we are witnessing the potential end of the traditional multi-day cross-border transaction. For enterprises and fintechs alike, this represents a tangible shift toward true cross-border interoperability, where liquidity moves at the speed of local digital commerce. As A2A (account-to-account) payment infrastructure matures, the barrier to entry for non-bank innovators is dissolving, forcing traditional financial institutions to either innovate or risk ceding ground to agile players who can offer frictionless, global money movement.

Devengo, the Spanish fintech specializing in account-to-account (A2A) payment infrastructure, has become the first non-bank institution certified under the One-Leg Out Instant Credit Transfer (OCT Inst) scheme of the European Payments Council (EPC), which connects European instant payments with instant payment systems in other countries. 

The certification enables the processing of instant international euro transfers between the SEPA zone and the rest of the world, in both directions and within seconds, meeting the same security, transparency, and regulatory compliance standards as a domestic SEPA Instant transfer. Devengo joins the first wave of European PSPs operating under this new framework. 

The first corridors Devengo plans to activate will connect Europe with Mexico and Argentina, enabling near-instant transfers in both directions between these markets and the eurozone. 

OCT Inst: How Europe Is Connecting Instant Payments with the Rest of the World 

OCT Inst is the European protocol for interconnecting local instant payment systems in other countries with the SEPA area: payments settled in seconds, with end-to-end regulatory compliance, on regulated infrastructure. 

The scheme processes the euro leg of international payments where only one party is located within SEPA, such as a transfer originating in Mexico or the United Kingdom reaching a beneficiary account in the eurozone. Funds become available within seconds under rules similar to those governing a domestic SEPA Instant transfer.

The scheme also requires that payer and beneficiary information accompany the payment throughout the entire process, reinforcing fraud prevention, anti-money laundering, and counter-terrorism financing controls under standards aligned with the international recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). 

“Leading the first wave is not just a technical achievement, it is a statement of intent. Our clients operate at global scale and expect the same speed and regulatory compliance they already get within SEPA. OCT Inst makes that possible, and we wanted to be part of that infrastructure from day one.” Fernando Cabello-Astolfi, CEO and Co-Founder of Devengo 

Direct Iberpay Connection and International Corridor Expansion: Mexico and Argentina Are First 

The certification is supported by Devengo’s direct technical connection to Iberpay, which allows the company to onboard new schemes such as OCT Inst, VoP, and the upcoming Request to Pay with the same speed and control that define its core A2A infrastructure. 

With Mexico and Argentina as the first milestone, Devengo is exploring additional corridors across the rest of Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and key Asian markets. The company’s goal is to build a network of interconnections between local instant payment systems and SEPA, enabling euro payments to move instantly to and from anywhere in the world. 

To this end, Devengo is actively seeking regulated institutions with direct connectivity to their national instant payment systems that want to operate as partners in their jurisdictions. 

Devengo will showcase its OCT Inst capabilities at EBAday 2026, the Euro Banking Association’s annual payments summit, taking place in Copenhagen on June 16 and 17. The company has been selected as one of 16 finalists for EBAday’s FintechZone, a space bringing together some of the companies driving the transformation of the European payments ecosystem. 

FF NEWS TAKE: This development is a clear signal that the monopoly of traditional banking corridors is ending. Devengo’s status as a trailblazer proves that agile, non-bank infrastructure is not just viable, but increasingly superior for modern connectivity. This significantly moves the needle by democratizing access to instant global transfers. Keep a close watch on the adoption rates in Latin America; if these corridors prove stable, it will trigger an inevitable domino effect across Africa and Asia.