OCT Inst (One-Leg Out Instant Credit Transfer) is the European Payments Council’s scheme for instant euro payments between the SEPA area and countries outside SEPA. It defines the rules that allow regulated institutions to connect SEPA Instant with domestic instant payment systems outside SEPA, through a common operational and compliance framework. For example, a payment can be sent instantly from a bank in Spain to a recipient using Mexico’s domestic instant payment system, or in the opposite direction, a Brazilian sender can send an instant payment to a German recipient. Devengo is the first non-bank institution certified under the scheme, providing the regulated infrastructure that connects these payment systems.

Correspondent banking relies on a chain of intermediary banks, each introducing its own processing times, fees and compliance checks. The result is slower settlement, limited transparency and unpredictable costs. OCT Inst replaces that model with a direct regulated connection between SEPA Instant and non-SEPA domestic instant payment systems, enabling instant payments, transparent pricing and full payment visibility without the complexity of multiple intermediaries.

Devengo acts as the regulated bridge between a non-SEPA domestic instant payment system outside Europe and SEPA Instant. For example, for an incoming payment to a SEPA beneficiary, a non-SEPA institution sends a payment instruction to Devengo through a single API integration. Devengo validates the transaction, applies the relevant compliance checks and settles the euro leg directly on SEPA Instant rails. The counterpart institution never needs to hold a SEPA Instant connection, a European banking license or a treasury relationship with the beneficiary’s bank in the Eurozone. Devengo absorbs that regulatory and infrastructure layer entirely.

If your current provider relies on correspondent banks or multiple intermediaries, you are likely absorbing FX costs, settlement times measured in days and limited visibility into payment status. Devengo connects the two instant rails directly, removing intermediaries, lowering the costs, allowing for truly instant payments (<60 secs E2E)

EPC certification matters because it confirms an institution meets the scheme’s technical, operational and liability requirements to move OCT Inst transactions. Devengo is the first non-bank institution to hold this certification, which means the connection is recognised at the scheme level rather than relying on a private agreement layered on top of existing rails. For a counterpart institution, this certification is the assurance that the euro leg of the payment follows the same rulebook, dispute process and settlement finality as any other SEPA Instant transaction, without needing to verify Devengo’s setup case by case.

Three types of institutions typically integrate with Devengo. Domestic non-SEPA PSPs, traditional banks and digital neobanks use the corridor to offer faster, more predictable remittance and B2B payment flows into Europe. Traditional banks use it to modernise a correspondent relationship that has become slow or expensive. European fintechs, traditional banks and digital neobanks use it to reach Latin America, the Middle East or Asia without building and maintaining the connection themselves. The common thread is a regulated institution that already moves payment volume and wants to remove a structural bottleneck in its cross border euro flows.

Mexico is launching soon as Devengo’s first live OCT Inst corridor. Argentina and Chile are currently work in progress, moving through technical and regulatory steps toward launch. Panama, Brazil and Colombia are at an earlier stage, where Devengo is actively looking for local partners to define the corridor together.

These markets are the starting point of a broader target across Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The sequencing follows where demand and the right local partner show up first, not a fixed roadmap, so an institution in any of these regions can register interest now, even outside the markets already named.

If you’re a regulated financial institution outside SEPA with direct connectivity to your domestic instant payment system, we’d love to hear from you. 

Reach out to our team and we will get back to you within 24 hours.