Bank Clearing Institution

Bank Clearing Institution – BCI

By Decision of the Board of Directors of the Association of Serbian Banks as of 06.04.2004 a special organisational unit was formed within the Association of Serbian Banks to deal with the clearing of guaranteed cheques pursuant to the Law on Payment Transactions and the Decision of the National Bank of Serbia (“Decision on Performing Interbank Settlement of Cheques on Current Accounts of Citizens”, No. 40 as of 23.06.2004, published in the Official Gazette of the RS 72/2004), and in view of technical, technological and staff requirements and other clearing operations in accordance with the positive legislation. The operation of the ASB Cheque Clearing System is divided into phases, with the the first phase lasting since the start of the systems operations on 1 September 2004 until 8 May 2005. The second phase of the system's operation, which began on 9 May 2005. It peaked on 3 November 2005, in London, when the Association of Serbian Banks won the first Banking Technology Award in Europe for 2005, "Best Clearing and Settlement Achievement". Perhaps an even greater recognition that year came from Microsoft, as the Association of Serbian Banks somehow become part of history - namely, Microsoft made its first foray into the financial markets with its BizTalk platform, which formed the basis for the operation of the ASB Cheque Clearing System. As soon as the following year, some of the largest companies in the region (INA, T-mobile Croatia, HVB, PU of Montenegro, Telecom Serbia, etc.) started moving parts of their operations to the BizTalk platform.

The adoption of the Law on Payment Services in October 2015 created the conditions for the Association of Serbian Banks (BCI) to grow into a Multi Payment System Operator, provided that all technical - technological and legal conditions stipulated by the Law on Payment Services are fulfilled.

The Association of Serbian Banks applied (based on a decision of the Board of Directors) and received a license from the National Bank of Serbia for two systems in 2016:

  • ASB Cheque Clearing Payment System Operator;
  • ASB Direct Debit Clearing Payment System Operator.

The systems are unique in the country and two of a total of 7 payment systems operating in the republic. Other payment systems are within the National Bank of Serbia.

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