Money that moves at the speed of a message.
Send to anyone, anywhere, on the rail that suits them. Most SEPA Instant payments leave Sezvo and land in the recipient's account in around six seconds. Internal sends are instant and free. International is honest about the rate and the fee, every single time.
- ~6sTypical SEPA Instant
- €0Sezvo-to-Sezvo
- 28Currencies to hold
- 160+Countries reached
You should not need to know whether a payment is a wire, an ACH file, or a SEPA Instant message. Pick a beneficiary, type an amount, and Sezvo routes it over the fastest rail both ends support.
Sezvo is operated by UAB Aušra Pay, a licensed electronic money institution authorised and supervised by the Bank of Lithuania and passported across the European Economic Area. Your account comes with a Lithuanian (LT) IBAN and our BIC, OCENLT22, so it behaves like a first-class participant on the European payment network rather than a workaround layered on top of one.
When you start a payment we read the destination details and choose the cheapest, quickest route that will actually deliver. A euro payment to another SEPA-reachable account goes out as SEPA Instant where the receiving bank is enrolled, and falls back to a standard SEPA Credit Transfer where it is not. A payment to another Sezvo customer never touches an external rail at all — it settles on our own ledger in real time. The table below shows the rails we run and what each one costs and takes.
- Sezvo to SezvoAny heldInstantFree
- SEPA InstantEUR~6 secondsFree
- SEPA Credit TransferEURSame / next business dayFree
- SWIFT (SHA)28 currencies1–3 business daysFrom €4 flat
- SWIFT (OUR)28 currencies1–3 business daysFrom €15 flat
- Bulk / batch (Business)MultiPer underlying railFree SEPA
Speed figures describe how quickly the payment leaves Sezvo and is accepted by the receiving institution. Once funds reach the other bank, when they appear in your recipient's balance is up to that bank's own processing.
For euro payments inside the SEPA zone, instant is the default rather than a premium add-on. We do not charge extra for it and we do not make you opt in.
SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) is a real-time scheme that settles payments around the clock, including weekends and public holidays. There is no cut-off time and no overnight batch to wait for. In practice the great majority of euro payments you send from Sezvo to a SEPA-enrolled bank complete end to end in roughly six seconds. You will see the status update in the app the moment the receiving bank confirms acceptance.
The scheme sets a per-transaction ceiling, and Sezvo applies sensible personal limits on top, described further down. Where an instant payment is not possible — the receiving bank is not enrolled in SCT Inst, the amount exceeds the instant ceiling, or the bank is temporarily unreachable — we fall back automatically to a standard SEPA Credit Transfer. That settles on the same or next business day and is also free, so the payment still goes through without you having to think about it.
- Available 24/7/365 — no cut-off, no weekend pause for euro instant payments.
- Free on every Sezvo plan, with no per-transfer or percentage charge.
- Automatic fallback to standard SEPA Credit Transfer when instant is not supported.
- Live status in the app: submitted, accepted by receiving bank, settled.
- Push notification the moment a payment lands, with a downloadable receipt.
When both people bank with Sezvo, money never leaves the building. It moves between balances on our own ledger, so it is genuinely instant and never costs anything.
An Sezvo-to-Sezvo transfer is the simplest payment we offer. Because we hold both sides of the transaction, we settle it internally without routing through SEPA, SWIFT, or any third party. That means it clears immediately, day or night, with no fee and no limit on frequency. You can split a bill, repay a friend, or move money between your own accounts in different currencies in the time it takes to confirm.
You can send to another Sezvo customer using their account, their tag, or a payment request they share with you. Because there is no external rail involved, an internal send is the one type of payment that can be cancelled right up until the recipient claims it — useful if you typed the wrong name or changed your mind. If you hold the destination currency, no conversion happens at all; if you do not, you can convert first at the real rate and then send, with the fee shown before you commit.
Reaching 160+ countries means doing it properly. We are upfront about the rate, the fee, and who pays the correspondent-bank charges along the way.
For payments outside the euro area, or in currencies other than the recipient's local one, Sezvo sends over the SWIFT network. International transfers are inherently slower than instant euro payments because they pass through one or more correspondent banks, each of which applies its own checks. A typical SWIFT payment from Sezvo settles within one to three business days, depending on the destination, currency, and time of day relative to local cut-offs.
Where SWIFT differs from many providers is in how we handle correspondent charges. You choose how those intermediary fees are split:
- SHA — the default: you pay Sezvo's flat sending fee, and any correspondent-bank charges are deducted from the amount in transit. The recipient may receive slightly less than the face amount.
- OUR — you cover all charges, including correspondent fees, so the recipient receives the full amount you entered. This carries a higher flat fee because those downstream charges are estimated and absorbed.
Before you confirm, the app shows the exact flat fee, the exchange rate applied, and an estimate of when the funds should arrive. You can hold and spend across 28 currencies in a single account, so for many corridors you can convert once, hold the local currency, and send without paying an FX cost on every individual payment.
When a payment needs converting, we use the live mid-market rate and add a clear, capped fee on top. No buried spread, no surprise on the receipt.
Currency conversion is where ordinary banks quietly make their margin, by quoting you a worse rate than the one they actually trade at. Sezvo does not do that. We start from the mid-market rate — the midpoint between the buy and sell prices that you would see on a financial data feed — and refresh it continuously. The fee is then shown as a separate, explicit line so you can see exactly what conversion costs.
- Live mid-market rate, refreshed continuously through the trading week.
- A clear, capped conversion fee shown before you confirm — never folded into the rate.
- Plan-based allowances: higher tiers include a larger fee-free conversion limit each month.
- Weekend pricing applies when wholesale FX markets are closed (Saturday to Sunday), to cover the gap risk.
- Hold 28 currencies so you can convert when the rate suits you, not when a payment forces it.
Because conversion and sending are separate steps, you stay in control. If the rate is not where you want it, hold the source currency and convert later. If you regularly pay someone abroad, convert a lump sum once, keep the balance in their currency, and make each subsequent payment without any FX cost at all.
Rent, salaries, subscriptions, savings — set the rules once and let them run. Editing or pausing a schedule never costs a fee.
Most payments are not one-offs. Sezvo lets you schedule a single payment for a future date or set up a recurring one on a daily, weekly, monthly, or custom cadence. You decide the start date, the frequency, and an optional end date or number of repeats. The app shows the next few scheduled runs so you always know what is coming out and when.
Standing instructions are honest about timing. If a scheduled date falls on a weekend or public holiday, we tell you whether the payment will run on the preceding or following business day for non-instant rails. Euro instant payments are unaffected because SEPA Instant settles every day of the year. You can edit the amount, change the date, skip a single run, or pause and resume a schedule entirely from the app, and none of those actions carries a charge.
- Schedule a one-off payment for any future date.
- Recurring payments on daily, weekly, monthly, or custom intervals.
- Set an end date, a repeat count, or leave it open-ended.
- Skip, edit, pause, or cancel any run — no fees, no friction.
- Clear weekend and holiday handling for non-instant rails.
Save the people you pay, verify them before money moves, and keep a clean, exportable record of everything that has ever left the account.
A beneficiary is anyone you save to pay again. Store their account or IBAN, BIC where needed, and a reference, and reuse it in a tap. Before a first-time payment to a new beneficiary leaves the account, we run validation checks on the details — confirming the IBAN is well-formed and the destination is routable — and, where the scheme supports it, a name-match check so a typo does not send your money to a stranger.
Every payment is tracked end to end. You can follow its status in the app from the moment you submit it, through acceptance by the receiving bank, to settlement, and for SWIFT payments you can see where it sits in the correspondent chain. Each completed payment produces a downloadable receipt and confirmation, and your full history is exportable as a statement, which is exactly what you need for accounting, expenses, or proof of payment.
- Saved beneficiaries with IBAN/BIC validation before the first send.
- Name-match and Confirmation of Payee checks where the scheme supports them.
- Live tracking from submission to settlement, including SWIFT routing status.
- Downloadable receipts and confirmations for every completed payment.
- Exportable statements for accounting, expenses, and audit.
Strong customer authentication on every payment, sensible limits you can manage, and customer funds safeguarded under EMI rules.
Every payment is protected by strong customer authentication. Depending on the amount and the destination, you confirm with biometrics, your device passcode, or a one-time code, and money actions are gated by your payment PIN. First-time payments to new beneficiaries above a threshold, and unusually large or out-of-pattern payments, may be held briefly for an additional confirmation step. This is deliberate friction in exactly the places where fraud happens, and nowhere else.
Daily and per-transfer limits apply and vary by plan, by rail, and by how long your account has been open and verified. You can view your current limits in the app, and in many cases request a temporary or permanent increase after additional verification. SEPA Instant also carries a scheme-level ceiling per transaction; larger euro payments simply route as a standard SEPA Credit Transfer instead.
On the question that matters most: Sezvo is an electronic money institution, not a traditional bank. Customer funds are safeguarded in line with EMI rules, held separately from our own operating money so they are protected if anything were to happen to the company. Where the deposit guarantee scheme applies, eligible deposits are protected up to €100,000. Safeguarding and the deposit guarantee are different mechanisms, and we describe them accurately rather than implying blanket bank-style cover.
Pay a whole payroll, settle dozens of suppliers, and keep approvals tight — all from a business account on the same rails.
Sezvo business accounts run on the same payment infrastructure with the controls a team needs. Bulk and batch payments let you pay many beneficiaries at once — payroll, contractors, supplier runs — by uploading a file or selecting from saved beneficiaries, and SEPA payments within a batch remain free. Each batch shows a clear total and a per-line breakdown before you release it.
Approval workflows separate the person who prepares a payment from the person who authorises it, so no single login can move money unchecked. Combined with role-based access, full audit logging, and exportable statements that reconcile cleanly against your accounting, business payments stay fast for the team and accountable for whoever signs off the books.
- Bulk and batch payments across saved beneficiaries — free for SEPA legs.
- Maker-checker approval flows so payments need a second authoriser.
- Role-based access and a complete, exportable audit trail.
- Multi-currency balances to pay suppliers in their own currency.
- Statements that reconcile cleanly against your accounting records.
- SEPA InstantEuro payments end to end in around six seconds, free, 24/7/365.
- SEPA Credit TransferFree standard euro payments, settled same or next business day.
- Sezvo-to-SezvoInstant, free, and cancellable until the recipient claims it.
- SWIFT international160+ countries, 28 currencies, with SHA or OUR fee handling.
- Real-rate FXLive mid-market rate with a clear, capped conversion fee.
- Scheduled & recurringOne-off or repeating payments you can pause and edit free.
- Beneficiary checksIBAN validation and name-match before a first send.
- End-to-end trackingLive status, SWIFT routing, and downloadable receipts.
- Bulk paymentsPay payroll and suppliers in one batch on a business account.
- Approval workflowsMaker-checker authorisation for business payments.
- Strong authenticationBiometrics, payment PIN, and step-up checks on risk.
- Safeguarded fundsCustomer money held separately under EMI safeguarding rules.
Common questions.
- How fast is an Sezvo payment, really?
- Internal Sezvo-to-Sezvo payments are instant. The great majority of SEPA Instant euro payments leave Sezvo and are accepted by the receiving bank in around six seconds, any time of day. Standard SEPA Credit Transfers settle the same or next business day, and SWIFT international payments typically take one to three business days. Times describe when the payment leaves us and is accepted; when funds appear in the recipient's balance depends on their bank.
- Is SEPA Instant really free, even for large amounts?
- Yes. Sezvo charges no fee for SEPA Instant on any plan. The SEPA Instant scheme sets a per-transaction ceiling; euro payments above that ceiling simply route as a standard SEPA Credit Transfer, which is also free and settles the same or next business day.
- What exchange rate do you use, and what does conversion cost?
- We use the live mid-market rate — the midpoint of the wholesale buy and sell prices — refreshed continuously through the trading week. The conversion fee is shown as a separate, capped line before you confirm, never hidden inside the rate. Higher plans include a larger fee-free conversion allowance each month, and weekend pricing applies when wholesale FX markets are closed.
- What are SHA and OUR on a SWIFT payment?
- They describe who pays the correspondent-bank charges along the way. With SHA, you pay Sezvo's flat sending fee and any intermediary charges are deducted in transit, so the recipient may receive slightly less than the face amount. With OUR, you cover all charges so the recipient receives the full amount you entered, which is why the flat fee is higher. The exact fee is shown before you confirm.
- Can I cancel a payment after I send it?
- Internal Sezvo-to-Sezvo sends can be cancelled until the recipient claims them. SEPA Instant settles in seconds and cannot be reversed once accepted. For SWIFT payments a recall request is possible, but whether funds come back is at the discretion of the receiving and correspondent banks. This is why we run validation and name-match checks before money moves.
- How do you stop me sending money to the wrong account?
- Before a first-time payment to a new beneficiary, we validate the IBAN format and confirm the destination is routable, and where the scheme supports it we run a name-match or Confirmation of Payee check. First-time payments to new beneficiaries above a threshold, or unusually large payments, may be held briefly for an extra confirmation step.
- What limits apply to my transfers?
- Daily and per-transfer limits vary by plan, by rail, and by how long your account has been open and verified. You can view your current limits in the app and, after additional verification, often request a temporary or permanent increase. SEPA Instant also carries a scheme-level per-transaction ceiling, above which euro payments route as a standard SEPA Credit Transfer.
- Can I set up recurring payments and standing orders?
- Yes. Schedule a one-off payment for a future date, or set up a recurring payment on a daily, weekly, monthly, or custom cadence with an optional end date or repeat count. You can skip a single run, edit the amount or date, and pause or cancel the whole schedule from the app — none of which carries a fee. For non-instant rails we tell you how weekend and holiday dates are handled.
- What happens if the recipient's bank is unreachable?
- If an instant euro payment cannot be delivered because the receiving bank is not enrolled or is temporarily unreachable, we fall back automatically to a standard SEPA Credit Transfer where possible. If a payment cannot be completed at all, the funds return to your Sezvo account and you are notified of the status throughout.
- Do business accounts handle bulk and approved payments?
- Yes. Business accounts support bulk and batch payments across saved beneficiaries — useful for payroll and supplier runs, with SEPA legs free — alongside maker-checker approval workflows, role-based access, and a complete exportable audit trail. Multi-currency balances let you pay suppliers in their own currency.
- Is my money safe with Sezvo?
- Sezvo is operated by UAB Aušra Pay, a licensed electronic money institution authorised and supervised by the Bank of Lithuania and passported across the EEA. Sezvo is an e-money institution, not a traditional bank. Customer funds are safeguarded under EMI rules, held separately from our own money. Where the deposit guarantee scheme applies, eligible deposits are protected up to €100,000. Safeguarding and the deposit guarantee are distinct protections, and we describe each accurately.
- What is your BIC, and do I get a real IBAN?
- Yes. Your Sezvo account comes with a Lithuanian (LT) IBAN, and our BIC/SWIFT code is OCENLT22. That means your account is a full participant on the European payment network and can send and receive across SEPA and SWIFT just like any other bank account, reaching 160+ countries.
