The Centre for Exchange and Clearing, CEC for short, is the Belgian automated interbank payment system for retail payments. The platform was setup in 1974 and is owned by its users, namely the banks. The National Bank of Belgium is responsible for supervising its activities.
Mission and vision
The CEC is the central point for channelling transactions between the banks issuing the payment instructions and the banks receiving the payments. More specifically, the CEC handles the traffic in small cashless payments between private persons, businesses and public authorities.
The CEC’s mission is therefore to ensure interbank payment transactions are as efficient as possible, all while taking into account effective risk management.
Responsibilities
The CEC has the following responsibilities:
- Exchange of standardised information regarding payment messages (in accordance with the applicable SEPA regulation).
- Settlement of payment orders between direct participants. These settlements are made multiple times a day in Target2.
Partner
In 2013 the CEC moved to a new and European payment platform, developed and managed by STET. Not only is it one of the largest clearing and settlement systems in Europe, it is also the current partner of the CEC.
Specifically, the CEC outsources the operational and technical processing of information flows and payments to STET. In addition to the SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) and the SEPA Direct Debit (SDD Core and B2B), STET also handles card transactions and cheques.
Core, STET’s new multi-CSM platform, operates completely according to SEPA rules and uses highly efficient technologies and procedures. Since this platform provides individual governance for each affiliated community, the CEC benefits from the economic advantage of large common volumes.
On the 6th of July 2017 CEC has signed a contract with STET to develop Instant Payments in Belgium. The members of the CEC have the ambition to offer Instant Payments to their customers as of November 2018. You can read the full press release here (only available in Dutch and French).
In the meantime, the following members have signed the service contract granting access to the "instant payments clearing & settlement platform":
- Argenta
- AXA Bank Belgium
- Bank J. Van Breda
- Bank Nagelmackers
- Belfius Bank
- Beobank
- BNPPF
- bpost bank
- bpost
- CPH Banque
- Crelan
- Europabank
- ING Belgium
- KBC Bank
- vdk bank
Some of these participants will also represent other banks supporting a broader reach for Instant Payments.
Management
The CEC is a non-profit association and is managed by its Board of Directors consisting of:
- the President
- nine members
- a Febelfin representative
- a secretary
Click here for the complete list.
Further information
For further information, please contact your bank.
Find out more about our partner STET below: