Lusa questioned the Bank of Portugal about the process of ‘normal’ transfers (technically called ‘credit’ transfers), given that information circulating in the international press indicated that transfers made during this period were ‘blocked’, which translates into a delay of more than four days for operations carried out on December 24, for example.
An official source from the Bank of Portugal explained that the delays in processing transfers since Christmas Eve, the 25th holiday, and are due to the normal closure of the ‘Target’ payment system during the Christmas period.
Since Target (the eurozone payment system) is closed on December 25th and 26th, and this year these days fall on the weekend of December 27th and 28th, ‘normal’ transfers will only be executed on Monday, December 29th.
“Normal credit transfers initiated on December 24th are settled between banks on December 29th, and payment service providers must make the funds available to beneficiaries by that date,” said the banking regulator and supervisor.
As for instant transfers, the Bank of Portugal added, they continue “to be processed 24 hours a day, with funds made available to beneficiaries within 10 seconds.”
In these transfers, there is “no dependence on Target’s operating days”.
Instant transfers (where the money is immediately available in the destination account) cost bank customers the same as ‘normal’ transfers (an obligation that has been in place since January 2025), but many customers, out of habit, still primarily use normal transfers (where it is necessary to wait one or more days for the money to become available).