Euro Banking Association
Encyclopedia
The Euro Banking Association (EBA) is an industry forum for the European payments industry with over 200 member banks and organisations from the European Union and across the world aimed at fostering and driving pan-European payment initiatives. Through its industry initiatives and the euro payment systems it has delivered, the EBA has been and continues to be a key contributor to the creation of a standardised Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).
. The European Commission
as well as the Bank for International Settlements
(BIS) supported the founding of the EBA. Since then, the number of members has risen to almost 200. The institutions come from all member states of the European Union
and from Norway
, Switzerland
, Australia
, China
, Japan
, the United Arab Emirates
and the USA.
In its early years, the agenda of the EBA included the promotion of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the development and management of a private industry ECU clearing system stretching across Europe.
For the start of the EMU, the EBA delivered EURO1, a pan-European clearing and settlement system for single payments in euro
. The system was handed over to EBA CLEARING, a company that was founded in order to own and operate this payment system. The EBA also developed STEP1, a payment system for commercial transactions and STEP2, the first and so far only pan-European Automated Clearing House, which processes mass euro payments for banks from 32 European countries. All three payment systems are run by EBA CLEARING.
As the largest network of payment practitioners with a pan-European mindset and vision, the EBA provides a country-neutral forum for discussing and driving payments initiatives. Based on the support of its unique membership, the EBA contributes to the development and improvement of pan-European business practices in cooperation with regulatory and industry bodies. The communication and explanation of these business practices and other industry developments to its membership and to the wider industry constitute another important part of the EBA’s mission.
In early 2008, the EBA launched the Euro Priority Payment Scheme, a non-proprietary scheme open to any bank in the European Economic Area
(EEA). The scheme enables banks to offer their customers urgent intra-day payments at a pan-European level.
Once a year, the EBA brings together its member banks and organisations as well as other stakeholders in the market for a pan-European payments conference entitled EBAday. The EBA also runs a payments portal providing news and information on ongoing topics in the market.
The head office of the Euro Banking Association is located in Paris
.
(PE-ACH) for mass payments in euro. STEP2 processes both credit transfers, that are in line with the convention on credit transfers in euro of the European banking industry, and SEPA payments.
EBA CLEARING is based in Paris
; it has representative offices in Brussels
, Frankfurt
and Milan
.
and fulfill a number of additional requirements. On average, EURO1 processes more than 230,000 payments per day, with an overall value of almost €245 billion. Today, the service counts 66 participants and 60 sub-participants. EURO1 is subject to German law (Transactional account principle/Single Obligation Structure) and is based on a messaging and IT infrastructure provided by SWIFT
.
(EPC) for a PE-ACH Compliant Clearing and Settlement System.
The STEP2 platform processes mass euro payments that are in line with the convention on credit transfers in euro of the European banking industry (transactions of up to €50,000 bearing an International Bank Account Number
, IBAN, and a Bank Identifier Code (BIC)) as well as payments that comply with the Scheme Rulebooks and Implementation Guidelines for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) as they have been issued by the European Payments Council. From the beginning of SEPA on 28 January 2008, STEP2 has been offering SEPA Credit Transfer processing services to over 5,600 financial institutions across the 32 SEPA countries.
Since 2nd November 2009, the transposition date of the Payment Services Directive
, EBA CLEARING has been processing SEPA Direct Debits with its STEP2 SDD Core and STEP2 SDD ("Business to Business
") Services. The 67 SDD Core and 46 SDD B2B Direct Participants extend reach to more than 2,400 financial institutions across Europe for SDD payments.
History and structure
The Euro Banking Association was founded in Paris in 1985 by 18 commercial banks and the European Investment BankEuropean Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. A policy-driven bank, the EIB supports the EU’s priority objectives, especially European integration and the development of economically weak regions...
. The European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
as well as the Bank for International Settlements
Bank for International Settlements
The Bank for International Settlements is an intergovernmental organization of central banks which "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks." It is not accountable to any national government...
(BIS) supported the founding of the EBA. Since then, the number of members has risen to almost 200. The institutions come from all member states of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and from Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
and the USA.
In its early years, the agenda of the EBA included the promotion of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the development and management of a private industry ECU clearing system stretching across Europe.
For the start of the EMU, the EBA delivered EURO1, a pan-European clearing and settlement system for single payments in euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
. The system was handed over to EBA CLEARING, a company that was founded in order to own and operate this payment system. The EBA also developed STEP1, a payment system for commercial transactions and STEP2, the first and so far only pan-European Automated Clearing House, which processes mass euro payments for banks from 32 European countries. All three payment systems are run by EBA CLEARING.
As the largest network of payment practitioners with a pan-European mindset and vision, the EBA provides a country-neutral forum for discussing and driving payments initiatives. Based on the support of its unique membership, the EBA contributes to the development and improvement of pan-European business practices in cooperation with regulatory and industry bodies. The communication and explanation of these business practices and other industry developments to its membership and to the wider industry constitute another important part of the EBA’s mission.
In early 2008, the EBA launched the Euro Priority Payment Scheme, a non-proprietary scheme open to any bank in the European Economic Area
European Economic Area
The European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...
(EEA). The scheme enables banks to offer their customers urgent intra-day payments at a pan-European level.
Once a year, the EBA brings together its member banks and organisations as well as other stakeholders in the market for a pan-European payments conference entitled EBAday. The EBA also runs a payments portal providing news and information on ongoing topics in the market.
The head office of the Euro Banking Association is located in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
EBA Clearing
The EBA Clearing Company was founded in June 1998 by 52 banks. Its initial mission consisted in the operation of the clearing and settlement system for single euro transactions EURO1, which the EBA had transferred to EBA CLEARING for the launch of the system in late 1999. EURO1 has established itself as the sole bank-owned clearing and settlement system for euro payments at a pan-European level. Besides EURO1, EBA CLEARING today also owns and operates STEP1, a payment system for individual commercial transactions, and STEP2, the first and so far only Pan-European Automated Clearing HousePan-European Automated Clearing House
A Pan-European Automated Clearing House is an ACH that is able to settle SEPA compliant credit transfers and direct debits across the Eurozone....
(PE-ACH) for mass payments in euro. STEP2 processes both credit transfers, that are in line with the convention on credit transfers in euro of the European banking industry, and SEPA payments.
EBA CLEARING is based in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
; it has representative offices in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
and Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.
EURO1
EURO1 is a real-time net clearing and settlement system for individual financial and commercial payments and is owned and operated by EBA CLEARING. It is open to banks that have a registered address or branch in the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and fulfill a number of additional requirements. On average, EURO1 processes more than 230,000 payments per day, with an overall value of almost €245 billion. Today, the service counts 66 participants and 60 sub-participants. EURO1 is subject to German law (Transactional account principle/Single Obligation Structure) and is based on a messaging and IT infrastructure provided by SWIFT
Swift
The swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are actually not closely related to passerine species at all; swifts are in the separate order Apodiformes, which they share with hummingbirds...
.
STEP1
Since 2000, EBA CLEARING has been offering a payment service named STEP1 for individual commercial payments in euro. It processes more than 20,000 transactions on a daily basis. STEP1 counts 96 Participants and 49 Sub-Participants, mostly consisting of small or middle-sized banks. The technical infrastructure is the same as that of the EURO1 system, as both use the messaging and IT infrastructure of SWIFT.STEP2
STEP2 was put into operation in 2003 with SIA-SSB as technological partner. It processes bulk payments in euro. STEP2 is the Pan-European Automated Clearing House (PE-ACH). This means that it complies with the principles set by the European Payments CouncilEuropean Payments Council
The European Payments Council was founded in 2002. It calls itself "the decision-making and coordination body of the European banking industry in relation to payments". The main task of the EPC is the development of the Single Euro Payment Area. The 74 members are banks and banking associations....
(EPC) for a PE-ACH Compliant Clearing and Settlement System.
The STEP2 platform processes mass euro payments that are in line with the convention on credit transfers in euro of the European banking industry (transactions of up to €50,000 bearing an International Bank Account Number
International Bank Account Number
The International Bank Account Number is an international standard for identifying bank accounts across national borders with a minimal risk of propagating transcription errors. It was originally adopted by the European Committee for Banking Standards , and was later adopted as an international...
, IBAN, and a Bank Identifier Code (BIC)) as well as payments that comply with the Scheme Rulebooks and Implementation Guidelines for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) as they have been issued by the European Payments Council. From the beginning of SEPA on 28 January 2008, STEP2 has been offering SEPA Credit Transfer processing services to over 5,600 financial institutions across the 32 SEPA countries.
Since 2nd November 2009, the transposition date of the Payment Services Directive
Payment Services Directive
The Payment Services Directive is a regulatory initiative from the European Commission which will regulate payment services and payment service providers throughout the European Union and European Economic Area .The purpose is to increase pan-European competition and participation in the...
, EBA CLEARING has been processing SEPA Direct Debits with its STEP2 SDD Core and STEP2 SDD ("Business to Business
Business-to-business
Business-to-business describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer...
") Services. The 67 SDD Core and 46 SDD B2B Direct Participants extend reach to more than 2,400 financial institutions across Europe for SDD payments.