4.1 Payment or transfer to a bank account held by the European Patent Organisation 

The date on which the amount is actually entered in the European Patent Organisation's bank account is considered as the date on which payment is made. It is therefore possible for the day following the payment or transfer to be considered as the date on which payment is made or an even later date in the event of delays within the bank. However, payment may still be considered to have been made in due time, despite being paid late, if the payment or transfer has been effected before expiry of the time limit for payment in a contracting state and if evidence to this effect has been provided (see A‑X, 6). For the steps required for the efficient processing of payments made by bank transfer, see the notice from the EPO dated 13 July 2021, OJ EPO 2021, A61 19 July 2022, OJ EPO 2022, A81.