What does the SEPA IKP payment system enable?
Bankart set up the SEPA Internal Credit Payments (SEPA IKP) payment system which enables the execution of credit payment orders between participants in the system pursuant to the SEPA standard.
With the establishment of the new payment system, banks and savings banks in Slovenia are able to offer their clients a uniform standard of payment with SEPA credit payment orders, regardless of whether the recipient of the payment is in Slovenia or any other country of the euro area.
Thanks to this unification of payment standards within the SEPA system, the processing of payments between banks can be provided by any clearing company in Europe on competitive terms. With the establishment of this system, Bankart joined other European clearing companies which process SEPA credit payments according to this uniform standard.
Banks selected Bankart in the tender
Based on the tender published by the Bank Association of Slovenia, banks and savings banks selected the company Bankart d.o.o. to process their payments. Bankart offered the most favourable terms and conditions and continuous high-speed processing also for small value payments (five times a day, i.e. every two hours, starting at 8.00 a.m.) which it has been offering to banks and savings banks and the users of payment services ever since1998, when the Bank of Slovenia established the giro clearing system as part of the payment systems reform in Slovenia.
On behalf of banks and savings banks, participating in the SEPA IKP payment system, Bankart obtained the license of the Bank of Slovenia to form the SEPA IKP payment system and on its own behalf, as a clearing company, the license to provide the SEPA IKP payment system services
The processing of payments transferred from the Giro clearing system to the new system, which means that the segment of small-value payments (up to EUR 50,000) transferred from the central banking environment to the commercial environment.
Migration started on 4 March and on 9 March most of the payments were processed in the new, SEPA-compliant payment system. In July 2009 also the Giro clearing system stoped working.
Use of uniform standard
From now on, banks and savings banks participating in the SEPA IKP system are able to offer their clients payments in compliance with the uniform standard of SEPA credit payments, currently used by more than 4,400 banks and savings banks in Europe, also for domestic payments.The use of this uniform standard considerably simplifies the execution of payment orders among banks and savings banks in different countries of euro area and is possible due to connections that exist between the clearing companies in this area. Therefore, Bankart is also able to provide connection with the trans-European payment system STEP2-SCT, managed by EBA Clearing (through its complementary system SEPA external credit payments – SEPA EKP and the Bank of Slovenia), which provides availability (possibility to pay and receive payments) of transaction accounts kept by all 4,400+ participants in the SEPA credit payments system to all participants in Bankart’s system.
Bankart guarantees a uniform transaction price of 2 euro cents for banks and savings banks participating in the SEPA IKP and SEPA EKP systems.
Notes:
What is credit payment?
Credit payment is a payment ordered by the payer who submits a payment order, which is debited to the balance on the transaction account or covered by deposited cash and credited to the recipient of payment.
What is SEPA?
SEPA or Single Euro Payments Area is the area in which residents, companies and other entities may pay and receive payments in euros on the territory of Europe, including domestic and cross-border transactions, under the same terms and conditions, with the same rights and obligations, regardless of their location within the area.In geographical terms, SEPA comprises the 27 EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.The basic elements of the SEPA system shall be three payment instruments:SEPA Credit Transfer (available as of 28 January 2008), SEPA Direct Debit (presumably available as of 1 November 2009) and SEPA Cards Framework (alignment with the SEPA framework has been underway since 1 January 2008).The SEPA establishment project is managed by the European Payments Council and supported by the European Commission and the Eurosystem.
More information on SEPA available at www.europeanpaymentscouncil.org and www.sepa.si
Participants in the SEPA internal credit payments system
Abanka Vipa d.d., Banka Celje d.d., Banka Koper d.d., Banka Slovenije, Banka Sparkasse d.d., Banka Volksbank d.d., BKS Bank AG, Delavska hranilnica d.d., Deželna banka Slovenije d.d., Factor banka d.d., Gorenjska banka d.d., Hranilnica Lon d.d., Hranilnica Vipava d.d., Hypo Alpe-Adria bank d.d., KD Banka d.d., Nova kreditna banka Maribor d.d., Nova Ljubljanska banka d.d., Poštna banka Slovenije d.d., Probanka d.d., Raiffeisen banka d.d., SKB banka d.d., Unicredit banka Slovenija d.d., Bank Association.
Participants in the SEPA external credit payments system:
Abanka Vipa d.d., Banka Celje d.d., Banka Slovenije, Banka Sparkasse d.d., Banka Volksbank d.d., BKS Bank AG, Delavska hranilnica d.d., Deželna banka Slovenije d.d., Factor banka d.d., Gorenjska banka d.d., Hranilnica Lon d.d., Hranilnica Vipava d.d., Hypo Alpe-Adria bank d.d., KD Banka d.d., Nova kreditna banka Maribor d.d., Nova Ljubljanska banka d.d., Poštna banka Slovenije d.d., Probanka d.d., Raiffeisen banka d.d.
Bankart collection centre
Establishment of the Bankart collection centre
The collection centre was established by commercial banks and savings banks, members of the Bank Association of Slovenia, in order to unify and rationalize procedures with new payment instruments operating among the participants of the payment system.
Tasks of the Bankart collection centre
The Bankart collection centre receives, sorts and forwards data or information in electronic form to all participants of the system and simultaneously manages relevant statistical monitoring of operations.
Subject of exchange
In compliance with the Agreement on the method of operations with payment instruments - special payment order, standing order, direct credit and direct debit, within the framework of unlimited production, data of all new payment instruments are exchanged through the Bankart collection centre. The Bank Association of Slovenia ratified the Agreement on 1 July 2003.
Bankart – manager of the Bankart collection centre payment system
In September 2005 Bankart received approval from the Bank of Slovenia to carry out individual tasks in providing payment system services. As collection centre payment system manager Bankart takes care of:
- collection centre system management,
- suitable, high-quality and timely data processing in the Bankart collection centre,
- inclusion of new participants and management of central register of participants of the Bankart collection centre,
- conformity and updating of Bankart collection centre codes,
- production and preparation of the collection of statistics of data exchanged through the Bankart collection centre.
Participants of the Bankart collection centre
Today the Bankart collection centre includes all commercial banks and savings banks operating within the area of Slovenia, the Public Payments Administration of the Republic of Slovenia, most business partners of banks (legal entities) and some budget users (included through the PPARS).
Advantages of operating through the collection centre
- signing a statement on inclusion, and corresponding appendices and agreements with contractual bank, which subsequently enables the business partner to operate through the Bankart collection centre with corresponding NPI with all clients, regardless of the bank with which they hold their accounts.
- automated data exchange, which provides the business partner with a modern and friendly method of making payments, quick updating of data on payments made, received payments etc.
- data exchange in compliance with prescribed standards, which excludes misunderstanding of the contents of exchanged data between the sender and the recipient,
- data exchange in compliance with the defined schedule of data collection and processing, which enables the business partner to be acquainted with the hour of performed transaction at the time of successful transmission of transactions to the Bankart collection centre system.
- possibility of indirect (through contractual bank) and direct data exchange with the Bankart collection centre, which enables the business partner always to exchange data and to solve potential claims with the same, chosen institution.
- provision of feedback on the performance of transmitted transactions, which enables the business partner to repeat transmission of data to the Bankart collection centre in the event of notification of a failed data transmission.
Conditions of inclusion in the Bankart collection centre
For all participants of the Bankart collection centre system (commercial banks, business partners of banks, budget users) the conditions of inclusion are set out in the document “Guidelines and standards of data exchange through the collection centre“.
We have produced operating instructions for the bank’s business partners who wish to be included in operating through the Bankart collection centre »Inclusion of business partners in the collection centre«. They provide a detailed description of special features, both payments with special payment orders and money orders, for which test samples of payment instruments must previously be checked, and »old« standing orders, which are transformed into direct debits.
