ASC X9
Encyclopedia
The Accredited Standards Committee X9 (ASC X9, Inc.) - Financial Industry Global Standards, mission is to develop, establish, maintain, and promote standards for the Financial Services Industry in order to facilitate delivery of financial services and products. ASC X9, Inc. is an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) accredited standards developing organization, accredited by ANSI since 1984 (see www.ansi.org regarding its accredited organizations). As the standards organization responsible for the development of all financial services standards in the U.S., ASC X9 plays a key role in the development and adoption of new technologies in the banking, brokerage and insurance industries. Many of its current work projects involve developing ecommerce standards such as better online security for financial transactions. As U.S. standards are developed, and because ASC X9 is the USA Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to the International Technical Committee on Financial Services ISO/TC 68
under the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO), of Geneva, Switzerland, ASC X9 submits X9 American National Standards to the international committee to be considered for adoption as international standards or ISO standards.
Membership is open to all U.S. domiciled companies and organizations in the financial services industry. Canadian and Mexican companies and organizations participate as well (with minor limitations when the U.S. votes into ISO, then they reply through their own country vote).
Under this mission ASC X9 fulfills the objectives of:
X9 member companies' subject matter experts are organized into
Working Groups within each Subcommittee. These Working Groups draft new standards and help to maintain existing American National Standards for the Financial Services Industry. X9 subcommittees and working group form the USA position/technical opinions on matters that arise in the development of international standards within ISO Technical Committee 68 (TC 68) and its Subcommittees (see www.iso.ch - Technical Committee #68). Also, see www.iso20022.org
(ANSI) approved the scope of activity for the X9 Standards Committee on Banking, as "Standardization for Facilitating Banking Operations." Later, X9 expanded its membership beyond banks to include vendors, insurance companies, financial associations, retailers, securities professionals, regulators, and others in the financial services area. With this approval, the name was changed to X9, Financial Services.
ANSI first granted X9 official accreditation in 1984. The official committee name became as it remains today, Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X9, Financial Services. Since this time, ASC X9 was incorporated under a 501c6 non profit designation for associations. ASC X9, Inc. operates under its own procedures in compliance with the American National Standards Institute's Essential Requirements.
(ISO), of Geneva, Switzerland. In this role, X9 holds the USA vote on all ISO standards of TC 68 Financial Services or its subcommittees SC2- Security, SC4- Securities and SC7 - Core Banking. X9 holds the USA vote into the ISO 20022 (UNIFI) Registration Management Group (RMG) which today consists of the RMG board with Standards Evaluation Groups named as follows;
Payments, Securities, Trade Finance, Foreign Exchange and Retail/Cards. For more on UNIFI go to www.iso20022.org. X9 services as the RMG Secretary as named in ISO 20022.
(DES) and its successor Triple DES
the current encryption security algorithm used in securing most banking transactions worldwide.
ISO/TC 68
ISO/TC 68 is a technical committee formed within the International Organization for Standardization , of Geneva, Switzerland, tasked with developing and maintaining international standards covering the areas of banking, securities, and other financial services...
under the International Organization for Standardization
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
(ISO), of Geneva, Switzerland, ASC X9 submits X9 American National Standards to the international committee to be considered for adoption as international standards or ISO standards.
Membership is open to all U.S. domiciled companies and organizations in the financial services industry. Canadian and Mexican companies and organizations participate as well (with minor limitations when the U.S. votes into ISO, then they reply through their own country vote).
Under this mission ASC X9 fulfills the objectives of:
- Support (maintain, enhance, and promote use of) existing standards;
- Facilitate development of new, open standards based upon consensus;
- Incorporate nonproprietary items developed by other organizations where appropriate;
- Provide a common source for all standards affecting the Financial Services Industry;
- Focus on current and future standards needs of the Financial Services Industry;
- Promote use of Financial Services Industry standards; and
- Participate and promote the development of international standards.
National Committees
ASC X9 is composed of four Subcommittees based on Financial Services business sectors:- X9AB - Payments (including checks (paper and electronic, retail and card, and corporate);
- X9C - Credit;
- X9D - Securities; and
- X9F - Data & Information Security.
X9 member companies' subject matter experts are organized into
Working Groups within each Subcommittee. These Working Groups draft new standards and help to maintain existing American National Standards for the Financial Services Industry. X9 subcommittees and working group form the USA position/technical opinions on matters that arise in the development of international standards within ISO Technical Committee 68 (TC 68) and its Subcommittees (see www.iso.ch - Technical Committee #68). Also, see www.iso20022.org
History of ASC X9
In 1984, the American National Standards InstituteAmerican National Standards Institute
The American National Standards Institute is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international...
(ANSI) approved the scope of activity for the X9 Standards Committee on Banking, as "Standardization for Facilitating Banking Operations." Later, X9 expanded its membership beyond banks to include vendors, insurance companies, financial associations, retailers, securities professionals, regulators, and others in the financial services area. With this approval, the name was changed to X9, Financial Services.
ANSI first granted X9 official accreditation in 1984. The official committee name became as it remains today, Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X9, Financial Services. Since this time, ASC X9 was incorporated under a 501c6 non profit designation for associations. ASC X9, Inc. operates under its own procedures in compliance with the American National Standards Institute's Essential Requirements.
How is X9 structured?
Presently, ASC X9 operates 4 technical subcommittees and 20-to-30 technical working groups developing financial industry standards and guidelines. ASC X9 is the USA Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to the International Technical Committee on Financial Services (TC 68) under the International Organization for StandardizationInternational Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
(ISO), of Geneva, Switzerland. In this role, X9 holds the USA vote on all ISO standards of TC 68 Financial Services or its subcommittees SC2- Security, SC4- Securities and SC7 - Core Banking. X9 holds the USA vote into the ISO 20022 (UNIFI) Registration Management Group (RMG) which today consists of the RMG board with Standards Evaluation Groups named as follows;
Payments, Securities, Trade Finance, Foreign Exchange and Retail/Cards. For more on UNIFI go to www.iso20022.org. X9 services as the RMG Secretary as named in ISO 20022.
What type of standards has X9 had approved as American National Standards?
X9 American National Standards are widely used and recognized. Many X9 standards are either cited or required by the U.S. Federal government for use in financial procedures and transactions. In addition, X9 standards are the basis for many international standards used in facilitating global commerce. Examples of X9 standards commonly used today in the US and around the world are; paper and electronic check standards (X9 owns nearly 98% of the standardized real estate on the front and back of checks, the magnetic ink character record was originally developed by X9, the credit and debit card transactions standard operating all card transactions first developed under X9, so that we can use credit cards and ATM cards in millions of locations every day anywhere in the world without interoperability problems that would otherwise hinder their widespread use. X9 is also responsible for all numerous data security standards for financial services including the "PIN" - personal identification standard in wide use today. Other important X9 financial services standards include Data Encryption StandardData Encryption Standard
The Data Encryption Standard is a block cipher that uses shared secret encryption. It was selected by the National Bureau of Standards as an official Federal Information Processing Standard for the United States in 1976 and which has subsequently enjoyed widespread use internationally. It is...
(DES) and its successor Triple DES
Triple DES
In cryptography, Triple DES is the common name for the Triple Data Encryption Algorithm block cipher, which applies the Data Encryption Standard cipher algorithm three times to each data block....
the current encryption security algorithm used in securing most banking transactions worldwide.