Bawag connects subsidiaries to EBA Step2 via Oesterreichische Nationalbank
The introduction of the euro created a uniform currency zone within the European Union, but a multitude of different national payment processing systems still presents a hurdle to the realisation of a uniform payment transaction zone.
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The EBA Step2 processing system for standard EU transfers that was developed by the Euro Banking Association (EBA) is a first step towards the so-called Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA).
The Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) has been offering all Austrian banks access to the EBA Step2 system since November 2003, and the BAWAG P.S.K. Group began taking advantage of this access in December 2003.
As part of the EU enlargement in May of this year, the EBA Step2 service of the OeNB was also made available to banks in the ten new EU member states.
Starting in the beginning of September, the wholly owned subsidiaries of BAWAG, BAWAG Bank CZ in the Czech Republic and Istrobanka in Slovakia, will also be able to utilise this OeNB service via sector access through BAWAG P.S.K. This will simplify and considerably accelerate the processing of standard EU transfers for the customers of these banks.
This connection also represents another important step towards the creation of a central payment processing node in Central Europe as planned by the OeNB.