INFORMATION ABOUT SENT COMPONENTS:
SENT is an electronic system for the multilateral clearing of low-value interbank payments sent among participants, during several daily sessions. This system stands apart due to the large number of instructions processed daily (about 95% of total interbank payments) and their low individual value, as well as due to the use of the TFDNet virtual private network for message exchange between participants and the system. This type of system is known as the Automated Clearing House - ACH.
Eligible institutions:
Types of transactions processed:
SENT provides a large number of facilities for file preparation, submission, management, monitoring and notification to participants and TRANSFOND, as follows:
One specific SENT aspect is that the instructions are submitted by participants in the system as instructions files (batches). The system allows participants two alternative processing modes, having the right to choose whichever suits them best, namely:
The clearing of instructions is done at batch level, permanently monitoring the compliance with each participant's collateral limit (the net position is permanently covered by the collateral voluntarily set up by participants).
The clearing of a validated file (as regards format and collateral) is done during the pre-established clearing periods via the SENT timetable, by real-time processing (immediately after validation) in the technical accounts of the involved participants (initiator and receiver).
SENT is operational only on ReGIS and TARGET2 business days, as the final settlement of the NSI (Net Settlement Instruction) takes place in these systems. Wuth regard to euro cross-boarder payments, they are processed in accordance with the operating hours of the external partner, Worldlines.
The SENT timetable currently includes 3 settlement sessions during business days, each having the same preset times.
TRANSFOND is the owner of the SENT IT infrastructure, the administrator and technical operator of the system.
In this capacity, TRANSFOND:
The Instant Payments Service (Plăți Instant) was completed in December 2018, and the official launch for consumers was on April 22nd, 2019. This service processes small value payments 24/7 in a maximum of 10 seconds, account-2-account, according to standards in the field.
Such a platform offers the possibility to collect payments in real time (within a few seconds of the payment initiation), for individuals - users of internet and mobile banking, legal entities - traditional merchants, virtual stores, businesses in any industry, as well as authorities. The step forward marked by the real-time "account-to-account" payments, compared to the standard time of execution of payments for any type of beneficiary among those mentioned above, respectively a number of hours or days from the payment order initiation, is a considerable one and has the potential to stimulate performance both in the case of businesses, as well as authorities that implement such an option for payment collection.
At international level, as well as at European level in particular, the authorities in the field, together with experts in the profile industry, consider that instant payment processing is becoming the new standard for processing payments of all types, but especially retail ones.
In line with the general trends described, the development strategy of TRANSFOND aims to replace, in the future, at a date that will be agreed together with the local banking sector, the SEPA type payment orders currently implemented, with instant payment orders.
Advantages of the service:
a) For payment service providers:
b) For businesses that will implement the "Instant Payments" tool (traditional merchants, virtual stores, businesses in any other field), the advantages would be:
c) Individual consumers, users of mobile banking or any other application that offers the possibility of using instant payments may reach the stage where they no longer have to carry anything other than a simple mobile device (usually a telephone), in order to purchase goods and services in the public space or to make payments to friends.
d) Central and local authorities, through their own fiscal structures, can benefit from instantaneous budget revenues, with all the related benefits, having the possibility to offer new incentives for the payment of taxes and duties, if the revenues come through Instant Payments.
Following the same development line of payment services offered, in September 2020, TRANSFOND completed a new service - AliasPay – available 24/7/365.
Through this service, TRANSFOND offers the possibility of simplified initiation of payments between two accounts opened with different banks, using only the mobile phone number of the payment beneficiary.
AliasPay is a Standardized Proxy Lookup (SPL) service that allows payments initiation based on an alias (mobile phone number) that the payer knows. AliasPay connects the IBAN account number of the payee to the alias, for payment service providers. In implementing the service, TRANSFOND used the SPL scheme of the Romanian Association of Banks.
This feature will be offered to end consumers (individuals or legal entities) through banks/payment service providers that will become participants in AliasPay. The AliasPay documentation has been published and is availablefor them, as an integral part of the SENT System Rules (Clearing House for interbank payments in lei and in euro, owned by TRANSFOND). Therefore, the access of financial service end-users to AliasPay is determined by the prior accession of their own banks / payment service providers to this service.
Starting from November 24, 2022, Romanian banks can minimize the risk of erroneous payment to fraudulent beneficiaries by implementing one of the most effective security measures - verifying the identity of the beneficiary (holder of a specific IBAN) before or at the time of payment initiation by the payer, so that the latter can decide whether or not to initiate the payment, depending on the real identity of the beneficiary. This validation is performed through Confirmation of Payee service (SANB - Serviciul Afișare Nume Beneficiar) which ensures the provision and automatic display of the first name and initial of the name of the beneficiary when the payer enters the beneficiary's IBAN account. In the case of a legal entity - beneficiary of the payment, part of the name and form of organization (S.R.L., S.A., etc.) will be displayed for validation.
At the time of launch, SANB was implemented by Libra Bank, ING Bank and CEC Bank, for the direct benefit of their own customers and the customers of the other banks that joined SANB.
The Confirmation of Payee service - SANB was developed by TRANSFOND and the Scheme is administered by ARB as an optional additional service to the SEPA RON Credit Transfer Schemes, based on the Convention on National Payment Schemes and the mandate given by the National Bank of Romania. The Confirmation of Payee service is an integrated IT solution intended for all interbank payment service providers.
Currently, there is no payee name validation in the process of collecting a payment. There is thus a (potential) risk that a cybercriminal requests the payer (via email, sms, etc.), on behalf of beneficiaries known to the payer (utility providers, service or goods providers), to pay some invoices, indicating IBAN codes of own accounts (different from those of entitled beneficiaries). Finally, there is a risk that some payers may follow these instructions without checking the details carefully and pay into the indicated account, mistaking it for the rightful beneficiary.
The occurrence of such cases of fraud can directly affect, in terms of money or reputation, the bank, public confidence in the banking system and in general in cashless payments through the (inter)banking system. Beneficiary verification is, at the same time, an important link in the development of new components of the payment ecosystem in Romania.
RoPay creates in Romania the premises for applying the new strategy of the European Commission, launched in September 2020, regarding retail payments throughout the Union. The strategy aims for the predominance of real-time retail payments made via mobile devices, compared to any other payment methods—electronic or cash—across the entire European Economic Area.
The instant payments infrastructure, which forms the foundation for executing payments initiated through RoPay and has been available to banks since 2019, covers over 80% of the electronic non-card payment market in Romania.
The RoPay service covers a wide range of use cases (including merchant payments, e-commerce payments, and peer-to-peer transfers) and will use a standard QR code adopted by the banking community and compatible with the European reference standard. Through RoPay, instant payments can be initiated both between accounts held at different banks and between accounts held at the same bank. The target audience for RoPay consists of consumers and merchants interested in making and receiving instant electronic payments with minimal effort and cost compared to other payment methods.
RoPay offers multiple benefits for merchants in terms of processing costs, payment-delivery reconciliation, ease of implementation, and especially liquidity—since payments are settled within a maximum of 10 seconds from the initiation of payment by the customer (the funds become immediately available in the merchant’s account). This happens under conditions of maximum security and 24/7/365 availability. In addition, the service provides merchants with the opportunity to launch new loyalty or promotional programs for their products and services linked to the use of RoPay. It also creates the conditions for small merchants to receive real-time payments, offering the same satisfaction as cash transactions.
The benefits of the RoPay service for individual consumers stem from the ability to make real-time payments by scanning a QR code to purchase goods and services, both online and in physical locations, and to make instant transfers to friends, suppliers, or other recipients, under advantageous conditions.
The AliasPay service will be made available in a distinct way within mobile banking applications—functionally integrated with them, but with its own visible, unified, and common identity across participating banks. As a payment collection tool, RoPay will be technically integrated with the acquiring facilities of the bank, payment institution, or payment processor offering it.
RoPay will deliver an extremely fast and pleasant payment experience (for both initiation and execution), making it easy for consumers to adopt in their daily routines.
AliasPay Service – Simplified payments using the mobile phone number instead of the IBAN.
Following the same line of development of payment services, in September 2020, TRANSFOND finalized the AliasPay service, available 24/7/365.
Through this service, TRANSFOND offers the possibility of simplified initiation of payments between two accounts held at different banks, using only the beneficiary’s mobile phone number.
AliasPay is an SPL-type (Standardised Proxy Lookup) service that enables the initiation of payments based on an alias (the mobile phone number) known by the payer at the time of initiation. AliasPay performs the correlation between the alias and the beneficiary’s IBAN account number for payment service providers. In implementing the service, TRANSFOND used the SPL scheme of the Romanian Association of Banks.
This feature will be offered to end consumers (individuals or legal entities) through the banks/payment service providers participating in the AliasPay service. These providers have access to AliasPay documentation, which is an integral part of the SENT System Rules (the Clearing House for interbank payments in RON and EUR, managed by TRANSFOND). Therefore, end consumers’ access to AliasPay depends on their banks’ or payment providers’ prior participation in this service.
On July 5, 2024, the National Bank of Romania approved the Set of Rules regarding the RoPay Scheme.
