Just missed the cycle: a STEP2 transfer re-dated to the next batch
Trigger: Bank Alfa submits a standard SEPA transfer into STEP2-T after the processing cycle's cut-off.
What operations sees first: A non-instant transfer does not clear in the expected cycle; it is carried to the next STEP2-T settlement cycle, not rejected.
WHERE IS THE MONEY?
Debited from Riya at submission; held in-flight until the next cycle settles.
DID SETTLEMENT HAPPEN?
Settlement is deferred by one STEP2-T cycle, then completes in TARGET2.
WHO ACTS NEXT?
Bank Alfa (originator bank) For time-critical payments Bank Alfa submits before the cut-off or uses an instant rail instead.
PLAY THE EXCEPTION
Trigger: Bank Alfa submits the transfer after the cut-off for the current STEP2-T settlement cycle.
Riya instructs Bank Alfa to pay
Riya (payer) → Bank Alfa (originator bank) · pain.001
Riya asks her bank to send a standard SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) of EUR 900.00 to Arjun. A corporate would send a pain.001 file; a retail app creates the same instruction internally.
Step 1 of 6: Riya instructs Bank Alfa to pay
- 02PostingBank Alfa debits Riya's accountBank Alfa (originator bank)
- 04 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessingSTEP2-T holds the transfer for the next cycleSTEP2-T (EBA CLEARING)
- 05 · EXCEPTION PATHClearing obligationThe transfer clears in the following cycleSTEP2-T (EBA CLEARING)
- 06 · EXCEPTION PATHSettlementThe positions settle in TARGET2 in the later cycleSTEP2-T (EBA CLEARING) → TARGET2 (T2)
- OUTCOME
- Funds
- Debited from Riya; held between banks until the next cycle settles.
- Settlement
- No settlement in the original cycle; scheduled to settle in the next STEP2-T cycle in TARGET2.
- Who acts next
- Bank Alfa (originator bank) — Bank Alfa submits ahead of the cut-off next time, or accepts the later cycle for non-urgent payments.
Full step-by-step text (works without JavaScript)
- 02PostingBank Alfa debits Riya's accountBank Alfa (originator bank)
Once the instruction is accepted, Bank Alfa books the debit on its own ledger. Riya's money has left her account, but no money has yet moved between the banks.
- DR Riya's current account at Bank Alfa — EUR 900.00
- 04 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessingSTEP2-T holds the transfer for the next cycleSTEP2-T (EBA CLEARING)
A batch ACH clears in cycles with fixed cut-off times. Missing a cut-off does not reject the payment — STEP2-T queues it and re-dates it to the next available settlement cycle.
- 05 · EXCEPTION PATHClearing obligationThe transfer clears in the following cycleSTEP2-T (EBA CLEARING)
In the next STEP2-T cycle the transfer is validated and netted into that cycle's positions, exactly as it would have been in the original cycle — just later.
Still only obligations at this point. The cut-off changed the timing of settlement, not whether the payment happens.
- 06 · EXCEPTION PATHSettlementThe positions settle in TARGET2 in the later cycleSTEP2-T (EBA CLEARING) → TARGET2 (T2)
The re-dated positions settle in central bank money in TARGET2 when the next cycle runs, after which Nordbank can credit Arjun. This delay is the cost a batch ACH carries that an instant rail avoids.
- DR Bank Alfa settlement account in TARGET2 — EUR 900.00
- CR Nordbank settlement account in TARGET2 — EUR 900.00
- OUTCOME
- Funds
- Debited from Riya; held between banks until the next cycle settles.
- Settlement
- No settlement in the original cycle; scheduled to settle in the next STEP2-T cycle in TARGET2.
- Who acts next
- Bank Alfa (originator bank) — Bank Alfa submits ahead of the cut-off next time, or accepts the later cycle for non-urgent payments.
THE TIMELINE
- 01Bank Alfa (originator bank)Submits the interbank transfer into STEP2-T just after the cycle cut-off.pacs-008
- 02STEP2-T (EBA CLEARING)Accepts the transfer but assigns it to the next processing cycle, since the current one has closed.
Cut-off outcomes are queue / re-date, not an automatic next-day rejection.
- 03STEP2-T (EBA CLEARING)Clears the transfer in the next cycle and the cleared positions settle in central bank money in TARGET2.
- 04Nordbank (beneficiary bank)Receives the transfer and credits Arjun once settlement completes in the later cycle.
Resolution: A batch ACH carries a cycle/cut-off delay that instant rails avoid. Missing a cut-off re-dates the transfer to the next cycle; the money still moves, just one cycle later.
Sources for this scenario2
- Scheme-specific rule
EBA CLEARING payment systems (STEP2-T and RT1) ↗ — EBA CLEARING · processing cycles / cut-offs
Participant rulebooks and full technical documentation for STEP2 and RT1 are not public; content here relies on the operator's public pages.
- Simplified educational illustration
Payments Signal editorial teaching models — Payments Signal
What this simplifies: Single-CSM/single-cycle model; institution-specific handling and exact scheme timings vary.
Used wherever diagrams, scenarios, figures, or example values are didactic constructions rather than sourced facts; every such use carries a simplifications disclosure. All people, companies, banks, and list entries in examples are fictional.