As EBA CLEARING, the operator of STEP2, announced at the Sibos conference in Boston today, Latvijas Banka will facilitate the STEP2 reachability of the banks using the Latvian EKS system, a SEPA-compliant CSM for SEPA Credit Transfers. The direct connection of Latvijas Banka to STEP2 will speed up the exchange of payments between these banks and any counterparties they wish to reach through EBA CLEARING’s pan- European platform.

“EBA CLEARING offers the only credit transfer service that ensures reachability of all credit institutions within the SEPA area. Our direct connection to the STEP2 platform will shorten the time for payment exchange between our user banks and their counterparties across Europe by one hour and thus provide an opportunity for our users to offer better service levels to their customers in terms of accepting and processing customer payments,” said Egons Gailitis, Head of Payment Systems Department, Latvijas Banka.

“Through its support of STEP2, Latvijas Banka has been key in extending pan-European reach to the Latvian community for SEPA payments. Latvijas Banka’s direct connection to the STEP2 platform will provide local banks with an enhanced access to our pan-European payment infrastructure before the end of this year, which marks the formal deadline of the SEPA migration period for Latvia,” said Gilbert Lichter, Chief Executive Officer, EBA CLEARING.