The National Bank of Romania celebrates 5 years from the launch of the real time gross settlement system ReGIS
The real time gross settlement system ReGIS is the core component of the electronic payment system in Romania, processing payments related to the National Bank of Romania’s monetary policy operations, large-value and urgent interbank and customer payments (in excess of RON 50,000), as well as operations of the ancillary systems operating at national level.
The launching of ReGIS on 8 April 2005 marked an important milestone in the National Bank of Romania’s strategy for development of the national market infrastructures, namely the transition from the processing of interbank payments on paper to the real-time electronic processing, with clear benefits for credit institutions and their clients.
Thus, the time required for the interbank settlement of payments initiated by bank clients has shortened considerably (from days/hours to seconds) and the fees paid by credit institutions for the settlement services provided by the National Bank of Romania dropped significantly from RON 30 at RON 6.52.
The National Bank of Romania further acts based on the underlying principle that the decline in financial intermediation costs contributes to the development of cashless payments. In particular, lower fees in the electronic payment system entail changes in credit institutions’ pricing policy applicable to payment and settlement services provided to their clients.
During the 5 years of ReGIS operation, the National Bank of Romania has permanently strived to improve services and maintain a high degree of system availability (over 99%), by implementing new features and enhancing those already in place.
The interest and confidence displayed by the banking sector and banks’ clients alike in relation to ReGIS are proven, inter alia, by the keen participation of Romanian credit institutions as well as by the increasing volume and value of payments processed via this system, which stand proof of its success on the domestic market.
Based on its statutory task of promoting the smooth functioning of payment systems, the National Bank of Romania will further act towards ensuring domestic payment systems that are practical for the users and efficient and safe for the economy, thus laying the groundwork for a wide-scale cashless payments society.