Euro Banking Association

The Euro Banking Association (EBA) is an industry forum for the European payments industry with close to 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).

History and structure

The Euro Banking Association (EBA) was founded in Paris in 1985 by 18 commercial banks and the European Investment Bank. 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 as well as 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 RTGS-equivalent large-value payment system for single euro transactions. The EBA also developed STEP1, a payment service for single euro payments of high priority and urgency for small and medium-sized banks, and STEP2, a Pan-European Automated Clearing House (PE-ACH), which processes euro retail payments. 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 payment initiatives. Based on the support of its unique membership, the EBA contributes to the development and improvement of pan-European business practices in co-operation 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.

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 Euro Banking Association is based in Paris.

EBA CLEARING

EBA CLEARING is a bank-owned provider of pan-European payment infrastructure solutions. It 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 of high value EURO1, which the EBA had transferred to EBA CLEARING for the launch of the system in 1999. Besides EURO1, EBA CLEARING today also owns and operates STEP1, a payment system for single euro payments for small and medium-sized banks, and STEP2, a Pan-European Automated Clearing House (PE-ACH) for euro retail payments. In March 2013, EBA CLEARING launched MyBank, an e-authorisation solution for online payments, which is geared at facilitating the growth of e-commerce across Europe.

EBA CLEARING is based in Paris; it has representative offices in Brussels, Frankfurt and Milan.

EURO1

EURO1 is a RTGS-equivalent large-value payment system on a multilateral net basis, for single euro transactions of high priority and urgency, and primarily of large amount. EURO1 is owned and operated by EBA CLEARING. It is open to banks that have a registered address or branch in the European Union and fulfil a number of additional requirements. On average, EURO1 processes more than 250,000 payments per day, with an overall value of almost €210 billion. Today, the service counts 62 participants and 48 sub-participants. EURO1 is subject to German law (Current account principle/Single Obligation Structure) and is based on a messaging and IT infrastructure provided by SWIFT.

STEP1

Since 2000, EBA CLEARING has been offering a payment service named STEP1 for small and medium-sized banks for single euro payments of high priority and urgency. It processes close to 20,000 transactions on a daily basis. STEP1 counts 79 Participants and 24 Sub-Participants, mostly consisting of small or medium-sized banks. The technical infrastructure is the same as that of the EURO1 system, both use the messaging and IT infrastructure of SWIFT.

STEP2

STEP2 was put into operation in 2003 with SIA as technological partner. It processes mass payments in euro. STEP2 is a Pan-European Automated Clearing House (PE-ACH). This means that it complies with the principles set by the European Payments Council (EPC) for a PE-ACH Compliant Clearing and Settlement System.

From the beginning of SEPA on 28 January 2008, STEP2 has been offering SEPA Credit Transfer processing services across the 33 SEPA countries through its SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) Service. Since 2 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. Through its SCT and SDD offerings. STEP2 provides banks across Europe with one channel through which they can send and receive their SEPA Credit Transfers and SEPA Direct Debits. The STEP2 platform reaches nearly 100 percent of all banks that have signed the SCT and SDD Scheme Adherence Agreements of the European Payments Council (EPC).

MyBank

MyBank is a pan-European e-authorisation solution for online payments that was launched in March 2013 by EBA CLEARING. The solution enables customers across Europe to pay for their online purchases via their regular online or mobile banking environment without having to disclose confidential data to the merchant or other third parties. The solution can be used for authorising SEPA Credit Transfers; it will support the creation of SDD mandates by 2014. At a later stage, MyBank may also be used for transactions in currencies other than euro or for e-identity services.

References

• Euro Banking Association
• EBA CLEARING
• MyBank
• EBA Portal
• The Payment System