SWIFT has been selected by the UK payments council to act as vendor for the single euro payments area (SEPA) IBAN-only central infrastructure platform.
The platform will be able to accurately derive bank identifier codes (BICs) from international bank account numbers (IBANs), a functionality that will be required for SEPA institutions within to make euro payments to the UK under the IBAN-only regulation, scheduled for 2016.
The new regulation will stop institutions from relying on customers to provide their bank’s BIC.
Currently, there is no central UK data source for SEPA-specific routing requirements. The Payments Council opted to provide an automated central infrastructure to collect and maintain all UK-specific SEPA routing data.
On the public platform, financial institutions in the UK will be able to publish and maintain SEPA routing data specific to their organisation, at any time.
It is designed to ensure that institutions in SEPA countries are equipped to accurately route euro payments to those in the UK.
The infrastructure will build on existing elements of SWIFT’s worldwide reference data utility, SWIFTRef, currently used by more than 5,500 institutions and 500 corporates around the world.
In terms of architecture, software and data management, the platform is designed to be flexible, adapting in line with the speed of growth in the UK and the introduction of new services and functions.
Maurice Cleaves, interim CEO of the Payments Council said: “Efficient and cost-effective SEPA compliance is a key priority for all players in the SEPA zone and, at the same time, an operational challenge for UK financial institutions. We believe the new platform enabled by SWIFT will deliver significant benefits by easing data management and ensuring accurate euro-payments routing to our community.”
Arun Aggarwal, head of UK, Ireland and the Nordics at SWIFT, said: “SWIFT is delighted to have been selected for this exemplary SEPA initiative by the Payments Council in the UK.”
He added: “SEPA compliance is critical for the whole UK community and with this initiative the Payments Council sets a prime example of how national communities can rely on our global SWIFTRef platform for managing their national data needs.”
