EBA CLEARING company announces dynamic pricing policy

The EBA Clearing Company, operator of the Euro Banking Association's (EBA), Euro Clearing System, announced today the pricing policy set for the wholesale and commercial euro payments from 4 January 1999.

Following a meeting of its shareholder clearing banks last week in Madrid, the EBA Clearing Company will be outlining to customers the principles behind its flexible and dynamic pricing policy.

Willy Scheerlinck, Chairman of the EBA Clearing Company, said: "Our total offering, including our pricing policy, is compelling and attractive for both large and small volume members.

"Rather than a fixed price, we have a dynamic, flexible arrangement whereby the higher a bank's volume of transactions, the lower the cost. Importantly our price includes both SWIFT and Fin-copy processing, as well as the operating costs of our company."

• For a bank that processes 5,000 plus payments per day, the total cost of transaction will be 0.15 euro cents or lower.

• For a bank that processes around 3,000 payments per day, the total cost per transaction will be 0.20 euro cents.

The group of 65 clearing banks that form the EBA clearing company devised a pricing system, whereby the operating costs are shared equally, therefore the more members, the lower the shared cost.

Mr Scheerlinck added: "Even with such a flexible pricing system, there are a number of factors, beyond price, which banks should consider before choosing a euro payment system. They must consider the relative cost of liquidity being used within each system, the cost of any operational adjustments as well as reliability and security.

"Banking with an EBA clearing bank makes sense because, with direct access to the largest banks in Europe, it is the best choice for cross-border euro payments."