In the retail payment sector, which concerns payments of small amounts generally made by households, firms and the general government, Banca d'Italia manages the retail payment system BI-Comp. This system was created to guarantee the settlement in central bank money of all interbank payments: it is where operations such as payments made with debit cards and cheques are netted and sent to T2 for settlement.
Banca d'Italia manages this system with a view to promoting efficiency, innovation in the field of retail payments and secure settlement, intervening in the multilateral netting phase.
In BI-Comp payments are netted in a daily cycle; at the end of it, BI-Comp calculates a multilateral credit or debit balance for each participant which it then sends for settlement in central bank money on the accounts held by intermediaries in T2. The activities preceding the multilateral netting of electronic payments are carried out by entities operating in a regime of open competition (ACH - Automated Clearing Houses). BI-Comp participants are charged fees calculated in compliance with the with the cost recovery principle stated in Banca d'Italia's Regulation of 9 November 2021.
The Centro Applicativo della Banca d'Italia (CABI - that is, the Italian central bank's clearing system) is the infrastructure that makes it possible for Banca d'Italia to clear both its own payments and those pertaining to general government (made in SEPA Credit Transfer - SCT format) independently, without needing to use external clearing systems. Payments are sent through CABI to national and foreign PSPs, provided that they participate in the STEP2 system.
Contact
Markets and Payment Systems Directorate General
Payment Systems Directorate
Retail Payment Systems Division
Via Pastrengo, 14 - Rome
Tel: +39 06 4792 4884
e-mail: retail.system@bancaditalia.it
