Nearly half of European banks expect to lose millions in interest due to new liquidity demands under the Sepa Instant Payments regulation, but still believe the benefits of the change will outweigh the costs. Higher limits make it harder for banks to predict how much money they need. Nearly every bank surveyed (93%) expressed concern. Almost half (48%) said they are “very concerned”. To prepare, nearly half of respondents are increasing their liquidity buffers, while a similar number are upgrading their fraud and sanctions screening tools to handle higher volumes at odd hours. Two in five banks are adjusting their risk management frameworks, and a similar percentage are setting up bilateral agreements to set limits with other banks. Over half report a surge in rejected payments tied to sanctions screening under Sepa Instant. Most see a 30-50% increase due to requirements to clear payments in 10 seconds. To keep up, two-thirds of banks say they plan to use AI to reduce false positives in sanctions screening, while a similar number are investing in tools to improve the speed and accuracy of transaction monitoring. Despite the pressures, over eight in ten banks believe the benefits of Sepa Instant outweigh the costs. And, while nearly half of respondents say that they struggled to meet the first January deadlines, 85% believe the October date is realistic.