Euro Banking Association

Not to be confused with European Banking Authority.

Euro Banking Association

Association bancaire pour l'euro
Seat of the Euro Banking Association in Rue de Courcelles in Paris
Abbreviation	ABE-EBA
Established	1985 (1985)
Founder	18 commercial banks and the European Investment Bank
Type	Trade association
Legal status	Nonprofit organization
Purpose	Support and create dialog between European payments industry practitioners
Location	Paris, France
Region served	Europe
Membership (2024)	Nearly 200 members that consist of banks and related payment providers
Official languages	English, French
Secretary General	Thomas Egner
Funding	Membership fees
Website	www.abe-eba.eu

The Euro Banking Association (EBA), also referred by its French acronym ABE-EBA (French: Association bancaire pour l'euro), is a trade association for the European payments industry with close to 200 member banks and organisations from the European Union and around the world aimed at fostering and driving pan-European payment initiatives. The ABE-EBA has strived to contribute to the creation of a standardised Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).

History and structure

The ABE-EBA was founded in Paris in 1985 by 18 commercial banks and the European Investment Bank. The European Commission as well as the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) supported the founding of the ABE-EBA. Since then, the number of members has risen to almost 200. The institutions come from all member states of the European Union as well as from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, China, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

In its early years, the agenda of the ABE-EBA included the promotion of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the development and management of a private industry ECU clearing system stretching across Europe.

Through its affiliate EBA Clearing, the ABE-EBA has developed significant market infrastructures of its own. These include EURO1, a real-time gross settlement-equivalent large-value payment system for single euro transactions; STEP1, a payment service for single euro payments of high priority and urgency for small and medium-sized banks; and STEP2, a Pan-European Automated Clearing House which processes euro retail payments. EURO1 and STEP2 are designated as Systemically Important Payment Systems.

Leadership

In 1986, the ABE-EBA appointed Gilbert Lichter as its secretary-general, a position he held until 1989 and again from 1992 to 2016. Since 2016, the secretary-general of the ABE-EBA has been Mr Thomas Egner.