Greece's Ministry of National Economy and Finance announced plans to extend the IRIS instant payments system to all businesses, making it mandatory for legal entities to accept payments from consumers via IRIS. The measure will be included in the ministry’s forthcoming bill on strengthening the capital market, which is expected to be published for public consultation. IRIS currently allows consumers to activate the service via their bank’s mobile banking app and make instant transfers to other individuals of up to EUR 500 per day with no bank fees. A recent government legislative initiative already requires freelancers and self-employed professionals to accept IRIS payments from customers, with lower fees than POS-based transactions. IRIS has 3.5 million registered citizens and 560,000 registered professionals, and in 2024 transactions rose 137% to 57.3 million with total value of EUR 6.1 billion (+110% year-on-year); the European Central Bank’s SPACE report places Greece second in the European Union, after the Netherlands, for the increase in instant payments availability since 2022. The ministry also indicated that the daily cap for instant transactions will double in the first half of 2025 to EUR 1,000 per day, split into EUR 500 for transfers to individuals and EUR 500 for transactions with professionals, alongside implementation of the all-businesses extension within 2025.

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