May Day Bank Holiday
29 April, 2025This year the annual European May Day holiday falls on Thursday May 1st.
All banks including the European Central Bank which operate the banking settlement system across Europe, will be closed. While it is a normal working day in Ireland on that day the European holiday means that electronic payments cannot be made to accounts in Ireland or across Europe. This means that anyone expecting a EURO payment to their account on this date may not receive the payment until Friday 2nd of May.
What does this mean?
In 2014, Ireland adopted the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), which created a unified system for euro payments. This changed how electronic payments are processed. Because of this, an issue has come up with some payments due to reach personal and business bank accounts on 1 May. The problem is that while 1 May is a regular business day in Ireland with banks open, the European system for settling euro transactions is closed since it’s a Bank Holiday in most EU countries.
How will this impact me?
Some euro payments won’t go in or out of member accounts on that day. So, if you’re expecting a payment or have an automated payment scheduled, it might not happen until the next working day after 1 May.
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