CENTROlink

The Bank of Lithuania provides technical access for all payment service providers, enabling them to send and receive SEPA payments.

CENTROlink is a payment system operated by the Bank of Lithuania, providing the gateway to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). Via its infrastructure, the Bank of Lithuania provides technical access to SEPA for all types of payment service providers – banks, credit unions, e-money or payment institutions – licensed in the European Economic Area (EEA).
 

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I. Benefits of participating in the system 

1. Level playing field. From a technological standpoint, non-bank institutions are given the possibility to make payments under the same terms as banks or credit unions.
2. Zero credit risk. Payments are made via an account held at the central bank.
3. IBAN and SWIFT BIC codes. The Bank of Lithuania assigns a unique 5-digit financial institution code to the payment service provider. The code is used to generate unique IBAN account numbers for the payment service provider itself and its clients. A licensed payment service provider that has established a legal entity in Lithuania receives a SWIFT BIC code with a Lithuanian country code, which allows global identification of the financial institution. Within the system, payment service providers licensed in other countries may use SWIFT BIC and IBAN codes issued in their home countries.
4. Access to European payment systems. CENTROlink is connected to STEP2 and RT1 European payment infrastructures. It is foreseen to connect to the Eurosystem’s TIPS to increase pan-European reachability of instant payments. The payment service provider who has a single access point to CENTROlink benefits from all system connections without any additional investments.
5. SEPA service package. This is the only system in the region that offers a full range of SEPA services: credit transfers (SCT), direct debit (SDD), and instant payments (SCT Inst).
6. Dual infrastructure. The system has a dual infrastructure that ensures business continuity of the system.
7. Flexible connectivity option. The system also offers flexible and secured internet access to payment service providers.
8. Convenient pricing. The Bank of Lithuania applies fees for transactions only. There are no fixed fees.
9. Speed. Average time of integration with CENTROlink does not exceed 3 months.
10. Favourable conditions. Licencing and supervision conditions offered by the Bank of Lithuania are among the best in the European Economic Area. More information is available here.
     

II. About CENTROlink

CENTROlink is a retail payment system, developed and operated by the Bank of Lithuania, which allows customers of financial institutions to execute euro payments swiftly and inexpensively. CENTROlink participants can offer their clients all SEPA payment services: credit transfers (SCT), direct debit (SDD) and instant credit transfers (SCT Inst). More information on how CENTROlink operates, acceptance of system participants, their rights and obligations, payment orders processing procedure as well as risk management is available in the Rules of Operation of CENTROlink.

CENTROlink payment system is directly linked to the main European SEPA instant payment systems RT1 and TARGET Instant Payment System (TIPS), enabling financial institutions operating within the system to provide a one-stop shop for SEPA credit transfers and direct debits as well as for instant payments.

Main objectives of the instant payment service

• Operational security
• 24/7/365 availability
• Convenience - in combination with other SEPA schemes

Priorities for the development of the instant payments service

• Direct link to the European Central Bank’s TIPS payment platform
• Fast and convenient payments by initiating payments based on the payee’s mobile phone number, using a Proxy Lookup Service
• Supplementing CENTROlink infrastructure services with a new request-to-pay processing functionality
• Assessing the possibility of introducing a functionality that allows the name of the payee and their account number to be matched before the confirmation of a payee in order to prevent new forms of fraud
• Introduction of new functionalities using modern technologies

III. How to get access

In this section you will find the main steps for connecting to the Bank of Lithuania payment system CENTROlink:

1 Comprehensive evaluation of the payment service provider and risk assessment (Due Diligence). You will have to complete the Questionnaire and submit it along with other required documentation to the Bank of Lithuania. The Questionnaire and the list of required documents will be provided separately.

2 Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and access to technical documentation. If, having evaluated the received information, the payment service provider is proved to comply with the requirements established by the Bank of Lithuania, we will prepare and submit a signed NDA.

Important notice! Signing an NDA does not in itself ensure connection to CENTROlink. After signing an NDA, we will provide you with technical documentation on the requirements and functional specifications of CENTROlink.

3 Application for BIC code from SWIFT. You will be provided with information on receipt of the SWIFT/BIC code.

4 Application to connect to CENTROlink and issue a financial institution code for IBAN accounts. We will prepare and submit to you an application form to join the payment system.

Important notice! Financial institution codes are applicable to financial institutions licensed in Lithuania only.

5 Registration with the European Payment Council (EPC). You will have to register with the EPC. More information will be provided by the Bank of Lithuania.

6 Certification. We will prepare the Certification Agreement and submit it to you. After signing it, you will receive personal certificates to access CENTROlink.

7 Registration in the testing environment of the external payment systems. Depending on the SEPA payment scheme of your choice, the Bank of Lithuania will register you in the test areas of the external systems (STEP2, RT1, etc.).

8 Testing in CENTROlink and the external payment systems. Within the pre-agreed time frame, you will have to perform the required testing set by the Bank of Lithuania in CENTROlink as well as in the external payment systems according to your chosen SEPA payment scheme. After completing the tests, you will have to submit us a test report of the established form.

9 Agreement with the Bank of Lithuania. You will have to complete the registration form and provide us with an opinion on the capacity (capacity opinion) issued by third party lawyers and, in case you are established outside the EEA, an opinion on your country (country opinion). There is no need to provide a country opinion if the Bank of Lithuania already has a valid legal opinion at that time. We will prepare a contract for participation in CENTROlink and send it for signing.

10 Registration in the external payment systems. We will register your payment service company in external payment systems (STEP2, RT1, etc.) within the time frame set by the respective payment systems.

IV. Service fees

The main service fees are provided below. For detailed information of all system service fees and billing procedures please refer to the Rules of Operation of CENTROlink (533.6 KB download icon).

SEPA credit transfer (SCT) and instant payment (SCT Inst) service fees:

1. for each payment (up to 30 millions) submitted and executed – EUR 0.01;
2. for each payment (exceeding 30 millions) submitted and executed– EUR 0.008;
3. for each payment received and executed – EUR 0.01.

 SEPA direct debit (SDD) service fees:

1. for each SDD instruction (up to the first million) submitted and executed – EUR 0.05;
2. for each SDD instruction (exceeding the first million) submitted and executed – EUR 0.03;
3. for each SDD instruction received and executed – EUR 0.02.

Minimum monthly fee for the System participant received or submitted payment orders executed is €400.

Payment orders are calculated starting with ‘one’ at the start of each calendar year.
No entry, regular or other additional service fees are applied.

V. Contact us

• Request a meeting
• Conference call
• Written consultation

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