Interbank Transfers in Euro within the Territory of the Country and to PSPs in the EEA

Interbank Transfers in Euro within the Territory of the Country and to Payment Service Providers (PSPs)* in the European Economic Area (EEA)**


  • CCB is a direct participant in the local payment system BISERA, operated by BORICA AD. BISERA is a payment system for processing customer transfers in euro, based on the rules, practices and standards of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). Depending on the time at which the customer’s payment order is submitted to CCB, the funds under the ordered transfer are credited to the beneficiary’s account on the same day, or at the latest by noon on the next business day. Most PSPs, banks and bank branches operating on the territory of the country, with few exceptions, participate in the BISERA payment system.

  • CCB is a direct participant in the pan-European payment system STEP2, operated by EBA Clearing S.A.S. STEP2 is the “backbone” of the European concept of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) – approximately 160 banks participate as direct participants (CCB AD is one of these banks), and around 4,800 other banks and PSPs/non-bank payment institutions participate as indirect participants (reachable parties). SEPA payment orders received by CCB by 16:00 are executed with value date – same day, and accordingly reach the beneficiary PSP on the same day. SEPA payment orders received by CCB after 16:00 are executed with value date – the next business day, and accordingly reach the beneficiary PSP on that day.

  • CCB is a direct participant in the TARGET payment system, operated by the Eurosystem. The Eurosystem consists of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks of the 21 euro area member states. TARGET is an English-language acronym meaning “Trans-European Automated Real-Time Gross Settlement Express Transfer System.” One of the components of TARGET, known as T2 or “RTGS” (Real-Time Gross Settlement), is used for clearing and settlement of customer transfers in euro. Unlike STEP2, which operates with bulk files (one “package” may contain a thousand or more individual transfers), the TARGET system processes individual transfers rather than bulk files. TARGET is designed for processing large-value payments on the basis of real-time gross settlement between direct participants. Payment orders for transfers via TARGET are executed by CCB with value date – same day, provided the payment order is received by the Bank no later than 16:00. After the closure of the local payment system RINGS, the TARGET system, through its local component operated by the BNB, effectively “inherited” the RINGS system.

  • CCB is a direct participant in the pan-European instant euro payment system TIPS (TARGET Instant Payments Settlement), which is one of the components of the unified shared TARGET platform. In addition, TIPS is integrated with the Bulgarian payment system BISERA and, in particular, with the local instant payment service Blink.

  • CCB clients using electronic banking channels may initiate instant euro payments of up to 15,000 euro per transfer, both to all PSPs in Bulgaria and to all PSPs in the euro area, as well as to a large number of PSPs in the EU. The service for domestic instant euro payments is known as “blink”, while the service for instant euro payments within the EU is known as “TIPS”. Both services have identical characteristics: they are available continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year; the funds reach the beneficiary’s account within a few seconds; the fee is the same for both blink and TIPS and equals the price of a standard SEPA transfer.

 
* PSP means “Payment Service Provider.”
According to the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act, PSPs include:

  • banks,
  • electronic money institutions,
  • payment institutions,
  • account information service providers.


** EEA means the European Economic Area.
The EEA brings together the EU Member States and the following Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway – into a single internal market governed by the same fundamental rules, aimed at ensuring the free movement of goods, services, capital and persons within the EEA in an open and competitive environment.