Deutsche Bundesbank and Equens SE will establish a bilateral link between their Clearing and Settlement Mechanisms (CSMs) for the processing of SEPA Credit Transfers, starting in November 2010.
The interconnection between the CSM operated by Equens and the 'SEPA Clearer' of the Retail Payment System (RPS), the Bundesbank's CSM, will allow them to reciprocally exchange SEPA Credit Transfers on behalf of their respective banking communities in a reliable, fast, and cost-efficient way. The cooperation is based on the Technical Interoperability Framework designed by the European Automated Clearing House Association (EACHA).
"We are pleased to contribute to the interoperability in European retail payments by implementing an interCSM link between Equens and the SEPA Clearer of Deutsche Bundesbank. The successful start of the cooperation will allow clients connected to both CSMs to exchange SEPA Credit Transfers with each other in a reliable, fast, and cost-efficient way," said Carl-Ludwig Thiele, member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Bundesbank.
Michael Steinbach, Chairman of Equens' Board of Directors: "We are always aiming to improve the services for our clients. The connection to Deutsche Bundesbank's CSM community is an important step for us in gaining full reach in Germany."
The new bilateral interoperability arrangement provides banks which are connected to the Equens CSM with reach with the banks connected to the Bundesbank's RPS SEPA Clearer and vice versa, with no need for connection to the reachable CSM. The transactions exchanged between the two CSMs are routed via SWIFT, whilst TARGET2 is used to perform the settlement.