Instant transfers: which Belgian banks still charge for them, and how much?

No Belgian bank charges for an instant transfer sent from its app or PC banking. European regulation 2024/886 has banned pricing it above a standard transfer since 9 January 2025 — and since electronic SEPA transfers are free everywhere in Belgium, instant transfers became free too. What still costs money is the channel: at the counter, Belfius charges €2.00 for a paper, manual or instant transfer outside the package, and the same amount applies to a manual operation at Argenta and on the per-item KBC current account. Here is the detail, line by line.

Which Belgian banks still charge for instant transfers?

None, as long as you stay in front of a screen. Belfius states plainly in its documentation that "electronic instant transfers are included free of charge and without limit" in the payment account package. BNP Paribas Fortis says the same in its fee FAQ. Keytrade Bank specifies there are "no fees" for sending one, and never for receiving.

The table below shows the annual cost of each bank's current account, and the price of a manual operation at the branch — the only line where a transfer, instant or not, still costs money.

The gaps that remain therefore no longer concern the transfer itself, but what the account it hangs off costs. Between a Compte Green at €0 and a Compte Plus at €51 a year, the €51 difference has nothing to do with how fast payments clear. The ranking of Belgian banks shows these annual costs next to the savings rates each bank pays.

Why did instant transfers become free?

Because a European rule made overcharging impossible. Regulation (EU) 2024/886 on instant payments, adopted in March 2024, applies in stages.

By 9 January 2025, every eurozone bank had to be able to receive an instant transfer in euros, and could no longer charge more for it than for an ordinary transfer. Since electronic SEPA transfers are free at every Belgian bank, that ceiling mechanically pushed instant transfers down to zero. Febelfin confirmed it the same day: all Belgian banks were now offering them at no extra charge. Test-Achats notes that before this date, some banks charged more than €1 per operation.

By 9 October 2025, the second stage: an obligation to send instant transfers from every channel that already allows a standard transfer, and the roll-out of payee name verification. Keytrade Bank, whose Keypack costs €0 a year and which was still limited to receiving them in spring 2025, now sends them from its app and transactional site.

What does an instant transfer at the counter still cost?

€2.00 per operation in the three Belgian fee schedules we opened, and Belfius has the clearest wording on the market.

Its schedule in force at 1 February 2026 charges €2.00 for a "paper transfer in euros or manual or instant transfer in euros at the branch", for operations not included in the package of the Beats New (€46.80/year without a credit card), Beats Star (€70.80/year), Comfort Platinum and Belfius Private accounts. The word "instant" is written into the line: the bank did not remove the price, it aligned it with the paper transfer, exactly as the European rule requires.

Argenta reaches the same amount by another route, without using the word "instant". Its fee list valid from 9 July 2026 charges €2.00 per transaction for a "paper transfer in euros / cash withdrawal" beyond the number included in the plan — and states that the fee is still due when the transfer cannot be executed for lack of funds. The Green plan, at €0 a month, only covers electronic SEPA transfers; the Silver (€42/year) and Gold (€83.40/year) plans cover paper.

At KBC, the per-item current account rose to €3 a month on 1 January 2026, or €36 a year, with the debit card charged at €0.75 a month on top. It counts €2 per manual operation, whether a counter withdrawal or a paper transfer. The Compte Plus, at €4.25 a month or €51 a year, includes unlimited paper transfers — that is what the €51 buys. The Compte de base sits at €2.50 a month, or €30 a year.

Instant transfer or urgent transfer: what changes on the bill?

They are two distinct products, and confusing them is expensive. The instant transfer is executed within seconds over SEPA rails, at no charge. The urgent transfer is a priority-processing operation that banks still charge per item.

Belfius, at 1 February 2026, prices the urgent electronic transfer in euros at €3.00 on the Classic, Universel, Beats New, Beats Star, Comfort Platinum and Private accounts, and €5.00 on the Beats Pulse and Belfius Pulse White accounts. The paper version climbs to €6.05. In other words: on a Beats Pulse at €0 a year, ticking "urgent" instead of using the instant transfer costs €5 for a slower result.

One nuance that matters in July 2026: at Belfius, every euro transfer entered in Direct Net or the mobile app is executed instantly by default. The "urgent" box no longer means much for a routine SEPA payment — it serves edge cases, not speed.

What limits does your bank apply to instant transfers?

They vary from one bank to another, and that is now the real difference between Belgian banks on this subject.

BNP Paribas Fortis (€36 to €84 a year depending on the pack) sets €5,000 per private payment account per day through Easy Banking App and Easy Banking Web, and €100,000 on business accounts. The limit is adjusted in settings, payments section, with one constraint: the standard transfer limit must stay equal to or above the instant transfer limit.

Keytrade Bank (Keypack, €0 a year) applies €5,000 per transaction, adjustable in the app and the transactional site, plus a daily limit of €5,000 that cannot be changed. Belfius defaults instant payment limits to the same values as non-instant payments, and lets you add a specific limit per day or per transaction.

Between European banks, a general ceiling of €100,000 per transaction exists, but each bank may decide not to apply it. Our current-account comparator places these banks side by side, real annual cost against real annual cost.

What payee verification changed since October 2025

Since 9 October 2025, your bank automatically compares the name you type with the actual holder of the IBAN, before you confirm. The service is mandatory, free, and applies to instant and standard transfers alike.

Three possible answers, as Belfius describes them: perfect match, you confirm; a small difference — a typo, a variant of the first name — and the bank displays the correct name; no match at all, and you can correct it, continue at your own risk or cancel. For businesses the practical consequence is immediate: the legal company name must appear on invoices, or customers will see an alert on every payment.

This check answers a documented risk. According to EBA CLEARING, cited by Test-Achats, an instant transfer carries up to six times more fraud risk than a standard one — because it is irrevocable. Once the order is confirmed, the bank can no longer recall the money.

Should you switch banks for instant transfers?

The real lesson of this reform lies elsewhere. For years, Belgian banks charged up to €1 for an operation that the technology made almost free; it took a European regulation to bring the line down to zero. Nothing prevents the same mechanism from replaying on the fees that remain in the banks' hands — the counter, paper statements, out-of-quota withdrawals. The guide on how to choose your bank covers these criteria one by one, and our article on banking fees in Belgium in 2026 details the full calculation method.

Sources

• Official Journal of the European Union — Regulation (EU) 2024/886 on instant credit transfers (March 2024)
• RTBF / Belga — Instant transfers: all Belgian banks now offer them at no extra charge (9 January 2025)
• Belfius — Tariffs and rates in force at 01-02-2026 (February 2026)
• Belfius — Your instant payments (accessed 31 July 2026)
• Argenta — Fee list, document DW 26147 (valid from 9 July 2026)
• BNP Paribas Fortis — How much does an instant transfer cost? (accessed 31 July 2026)
• Keytrade Bank — Instant transfer (accessed 31 July 2026)
• Test-Achats — KBC raises its current account tariffs from 2026 (15 October 2025)
• Test-Achats — Instant transfers: fast, free and really reliable? (accessed 31 July 2026)