Market Infrastructure Department

The mission of the Market Infrastructure Department is to promote sound and efficient operation of payment and securities settlement systems, contribute to creating an advanced payments market, oversee the financial market infrastructure, formulate payment instruments policy, efficiently administrate and develop the Bank of Lithuania’s retail payment system CENTROlink, as well as coordinate and provide the Eurosystem’s TARGET services to Lithuania’s payment service providers.

In formulating the financial market infrastructure and payment instruments policy, the department develops and submits proposals on financial market infrastructure and payment instruments policies, measures, oversight, payment system administration, development and innovation.

Seeking to ensure smooth functioning of retail payments in the country, the Market Infrastructure Department manages the Bank of Lithuania’s retail payment system CENTROlink and ensures its connection with other financial market infrastructures operating in the Single European Payments Area (SEPA).

The department monitors the readiness of the country’s payment service providers to use the Eurosystem’s TARGET services and administrates the provision of these services.

In conducting oversight of the financial market infrastructure, the Market Infrastructure Department registers the payment and securities settlement systems, manages and publishes relevant data, develops and applies tools that allow monitoring, analysing and assessing financial market infrastructure risks.

Considerable efforts devoted by the staff of the Market Infrastructure Department in coordinating the development of open banking in the country and the emergence of new services provided through the systems administered by the department significantly contribute to innovation in the field of financial transactions, at the same time encouraging the activities of FinTech companies, increasing competition and promoting the emergence of new and attractive payment services.