Standard interbank transfers, where the sender and recipient hold accounts at different banks, can be delayed over the Easter period because the ECB’s TARGET payment system is closed on both Good Friday, April 3rd, and Easter Monday, April 6th. The ECB lists both dates as public holidays for the system in 2026.
In Austria, that means payments sent on Good Friday will generally not be forwarded to another bank until the next possible euro working day, which is Tuesday, April 7th. Forwarding euro payments to other banks with a value date of Good Friday is not possible, and standard SEPA payments that need to reach the recipient before Good Friday should be initiated two days earlier.
This could affect one-off payments and some scheduled payments where the money has to move between different banks. The practical impact depends on your bank and the type of transfer you are making.
Other transfers can still work as normal.
Internal transfers, where both the sender and recipient have accounts at the same bank, may continue to be processed depending on the bank. Bank Austria said that if both accounts are within Bank Austria, the debit and credit booking can still be carried out on Good Friday. Instant payments also continue to run year-round, 24/7/365, according to Bank Austria’s payment deadlines.
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Good Friday is not one of Austria's general bank holidays. The Oesterreichische Nationalbank said Austrian banks are closed on Saturdays, Sundays and listed public holidays such as Easter Monday, while Good Friday is instead a closing day with special payment processing rules.
Standard interbank euro transfers are also not processed on certain other closing days in 2026, including:
- Friday, April 3rd, Good Friday
- Monday, April 6th, Easter Monday
- Friday, May 1st, Labour Day
- Friday, December 25th, Christmas Day
Key vocabulary
die Überweisung – bank transfer
die Sofortüberweisung – instant transfer
der Feiertag – public holiday
der Karfreitag – Good Friday
der Ostermontag – Easter Monday
die Bankarbeitstage – bank working days
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