STEP1 Participants

A bank needs to fulfil the following criteria to be able to participate in the STEP1 Service:

  • be authorised to conduct banking business
  • participate in the STEP1 Service from its registered address or a branch located in the EU 
  • be a member of the Euro Banking Association. Neither a minimum credit rating nor a minimum of own funds are required to participate in the service. 

STEP1 Sub-Participants

In order to qualify as a sub-participant in STEP1, a bank has to be 

  • established in an EEA location
  • a consolidated affiliate of a participant in the STEP1 Service, as evidenced by the accounts of the participant

Participants may also include branches as sub-addresses.

Joining windows

Joining windows for STEP1 are available on a monthly basis, respecting the following timeline:

Joining process
Joining process

Future change dates

The following dates are agreed with SWIFT for changes to STEP1 provisioning. This includes the connection of new participants to the systems and the addition of sub-participants as sub-addresses.  

  • 5 November 2018
  • 3 December 2018
  • 14 January 2019
  • 4 February 2019
  • 4 March 2019
  • 8 April 2019
  • 6 May 2019
  • 3 June 2019
  • 8 July 2019
  • 5 August 2019
  • 9 September 2019
  • 7 October 2019
  • 4 November 2019
  • 9 December 2019

Please note that there will be a freeze period from 14 December 2018 to 11 January 2019.