NBS Interbank Clearing of FX Payments and International Clearing of FX Payments

To ensure more efficient and cost-effective execution of euro payment transactions for households and businesses, the NBS operates NBS Interbank Clearing of FX Payments and International Clearing of FX Payments, which executes euro transfers among participants in the system, each business day in accordance with the Operating Rules of the System of Interbank Clearing of Foreign Exchange Payments  and Operating Rules for Clearing of International Payments (System of International Clearing of Foreign Exchange Payments).

Participants in the International Clearing of FX Payments are 12 banks with their head offices in the Republic of Serbia, the NBS, seven banks from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and one bank from Montenegro based on the Agreement on the Clearing of Interbank and International Payments concluded between the NBS, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Central Bank of Montenegro.

Participants in the NBS Interbank Clearing of FX Payments and International Clearing of FX Payments are interconnected into a single system in which transfer orders are exchanged using electronic messages based on the appropriate standard. Transfer orders in the system are executed at designated times on the net principle. In the netting procedure, multilateral net settlement positions of participants are calculated by combining receivables and liabilities in respect of transfer orders exchanged between participants in the payment system – into a single net liability or net receivable of an individual participant in the payment system with respect to all other participants in that system. In addition to net positions of individual participants, aggregate net positions of central banks in international clearing are calculated in this system. These positions represent the difference between all received and executed transfer orders of all participants in clearing which have concluded an agreement on participation in clearing with that central bank. Aggregate net positions between central banks are settled through an account with a prime international bank. For banks from the Republic of Serbia, net positions in the System of interbank and international clearing of foreign exchange payments are settled through their foreign currency required reserve accounts with the National Bank of Serbia. As part of the established risk management system and as a basic measure of securing the execution of calculated net positions, before the start of a clearing cycle, the National Bank of Serbia sets a limit for the execution of a net clearing position to each participant.

The key advantage of the NBS’s system is that it enables its participants to execute transactions for their clients (households and businesses alike) on the same day if the payment order is sent by 14:00, with a fee of as little as 10 dinars per transaction for banks in the Republic of Serbia. Furthermore, participants in the system pay no fee on monetary inflows.

The number and value of transactions carried out in the system of international and interbank clearing of foreign exchange payments, by month in 2013–2023, are shown in the following charts.