Payments NZ welcomes ICBC to Bulk Electronic Clearing System

Payments NZ welcomes ICBC to the Bulk Electronic Clearing System

29 February 2016

Payments NZ has welcomed a new direct settlement participant to its Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS), the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China New Zealand Limited, (ICBC).

Joining BECS means that ICBC will now be able to send and receive electronic payments (direct debits, direct credits, automatic and bill payments, etc.) with other BECS participants who are ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Citibank, HSBC, Kiwibank, Westpac and TSB.

BECS participants use the Settlement Before Interchange (SBI) payments system to send and receive payments. In the twelve months to October 2015, this system processed electronic payments worth NZD$1 trillion.

“ICBC joined our High Value Clearing System in 2014 and is the first new participant to use SBI, and its predecessor ISL, in over a decade,” said Payments NZ Chief Executive, Steve Wiggins.

“ICBC expanding into BECS is great news for our industry and reflects the dynamic competition and innovation that’s happening in our sector”.

“Having a system that is open to new entrants is important for ensuring we keep a world- class payments system that encourages innovation and ultimately means better services for consumers”.

For many months before ICBC could operate in BECS, existing participants, led by TSB, worked closely with the Chinese bank to ensure all of the necessary system arrangements were in place and thoroughly tested.

Payments NZ expects to welcome other direct settlement participants to its clearing systems this year.

[ENDS]

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