If you're building payment service in Europe, chances are you'll need more than one payment rail. SEPA supports everyday euro payments, T2 handles high-value settlement in central bank money, and SWIFT connects you to international banks around the world. Managing separate providers for each can quickly add operational complexity, especially as your business expands. 

That's why many payment institutions, EMIs, and other fintechs look for a banking partner that can provide access to all three through a single relationship. 

Banking solutions in Europe with direct access to SEPA, T2, and SWIFT include ClearBank, LHV, and Deutsche Bank, among others. In this guide, we'll compare how these providers differ and explain what to look for when choosing the right banking partner for your payment infrastructure. 

SEPA, T2, and SWIFT are often mentioned together, but they aren't interchangeable. Each is designed for a different type of payment:

The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) enables businesses and consumers to send euro payments across 36 participating countries using a common set of payment schemes. The two most widely used are SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) for standard euro payments and SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) for payments that settle in seconds. 

For most fintechs and payment businesses, SEPA forms the foundation of their euro payment infrastructure and supports use cases like: 

• Customer account funding 
• Marketplace payouts 
• Supplier payments 
• Other day-to-day account-to-account transfers 

Note: As demand for real-time payments continues to grow, SEPA Instant is expected to overtake traditional SEPA Credit Transfers by 2030, according to ClearBank research conducted with Celent. 

Read the full report here: SEPA Instant adoption in Europe 

T2 replaced the original TARGET2 system as the Eurosystem’s real-time gross settlement system. It settles high-value euro payments in central bank money to ensure irrevocable, same-day settlement. 

This rail is typically used by banks, large treasury teams, and financial institutions moving substantial sums. You can learn more about how this infrastructure works in our guide to what is T2. 

Unlike SEPA and T2, which are designed primarily for euro payments, SWIFT enables banks and financial institutions around the world to exchange payment instructions securely.  

In simple terms, it is a global messaging network that allows banks to communicate with one another using standardised message formats. 

While it does not move money itself, SWIFT is essential for coordinating payments across borders.

Many businesses look for providers with direct access to payment schemes because they want greater reliability, control, and visibility over payment processing. However, that doesn't necessarily mean they want to become a direct participant themselves. 

For most fintechs and payment institutions, building and maintaining direct scheme participation is a significant operational undertaking: 

• It can take up to 18 months to be a direct participant, slowing time to market in some cases 
• You have to manage scheme applications, technical connectivity, and settlement accounts at central banks 
• It also involves strict liquidity management and collateral requirements 
• Regular participation in scheme committees and updates, even after you’ve been approved as a direct participant 

That’s why many businesses choose to go down another route: partnering with a banking provider that already is a direct participant in the relevant schemes.

Agency banking allows regulated firms to use a partner's infrastructure while that partner manages the scheme connectivity and operational overhead. Indirect access typically requires less collateral and time to market, so your team can focus on developing its core products instead of scheme connection.  

But the indirect access experience varies significantly depending on the type of banking partner you choose. Traditional banks, for example, often rely on legacy systems that may require manual workarounds and offer limited data visibility. 

In contrast, an API-first bank allows you to automate payment flows and receive real-time updates via webhooks. You can integrate these services directly into your own product or internal systems to reduce operational friction.

As we’re writing this guide, we'll start with how our own infrastructure is built to support SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Instant, T2, and SWIFT connectivity. (We also support all major UK payment rails, including Faster Payments and CHAPS.) 

ClearBank UK and ClearBank Europe manage over 18bn GBP in total client deposits and operate through headquarters in London and Amsterdam. This allows us to support financial institutions, corporates, digital asset platforms, and other fintechs across the UK and Europe. 

Companies like Tide, Revolut, and Airwallex partner with ClearBank because: 

• Our API-first approach means you can connect quickly. Past clients have been fully connected and integrated into payment schemes within 1-3 months via our infrastructure.  
• Keep your own Bank Identifier Code (BIC) while leveraging ClearBank’s connectivity and central bank accounts to settle. For example, a bank in Finland could use this indirect participation model to issue Finnish vIBANs and maintain its own BIC while using our backend infrastructure to handle the clearing. 
• Use real or virtual account structures to meet client needs. You can open a substantial number of virtual accounts, which are still linked to real accounts, from within your own systems using our virtual account API.

LHV is an Estonian bank with a strong focus on fintechs and financial institutions. They offer API led banking services across the UK and Europe. 

LHV’s proposition in a nutshell: 

• Provides SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Instant, and SEPA Direct Debit access 
• Supports scalable virtual accounts with vIBANs for reconciliation 
• Offers a cloud native API called Connect for real-time account information 
• Includes SWIFT access for additional international payment use cases 
• Supports UK payment rails as well, including Faster Payments and Bacs

Traditional banks such as Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, and ING offer broad access to SEPA, T2, and SWIFT through established corporate banking relationships.  

They are often the right fit for large global corporates with complex treasury needs. Keep in mind that their onboarding and tech stacks may differ from fintech and API-focused providers. 

Deutsche Bank offers: 

• Extensive global branch networks and correspondent banking infrastructure 
• Capabilities for large-scale treasury, cash management, and global trade 
• Access to T2 and wider European clearing (which is often bundled with high-value corporate services)

When comparing providers, it makes sense to look at if they support SEPA, T2, and SWIFT. However, you should also consider how they deliver that access, whether they provide modern APIs, real-time payment data, flexible account structures, and the operational support needed to simplify integration and ongoing management. 

ClearBank provides access to SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Instant Credit Transfer, T2, and SWIFT through a single banking relationship. As a fully licensed bank with API-first infrastructure, we help fintechs, financial institutions, and corporates launch faster, automate payment operations, and scale across Europe without building and maintaining direct scheme connectivity themselves.

Sources 

• https://www.bundesbank.de/en/tasks/payment-systems/t2  
• https://www.lhv.com/financialinstitutions/payments 
• https://corporates.db.com/solutions/client-access-solutions/corporate-api-connectivity 
• https://corporates.db.com/in-focus/Focus-topics/instant-payments-vop  

*Disclaimer: All information relating to third-party products and companies featured in this article has been sourced solely from their respective public websites and official publications at the time of writing. ClearBank makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, or currency of this information. Product features, positioning, and company details may have changed since publication. Readers should refer to each provider's official website for the most up-to-date information before making any purchasing decisions.