The center Kreditausschuss (ZKA) is a mechanism of the credit institutes in Germany for the common opinion and will formation and for the agency of the interests of the credit and finance in relation to national institutions.

Organization and setting of tasks

The center Kreditausschuss 1932 were created. In it the five central associations of the German credit and finance are represented:

• Federal association of the German people banks and Raiffeisen banks (BVR)
• Federal association of German banks (BdB)
• Federal association of public banks of Germany
• German savings bank and Giroverband (DSGV)
• Connected German mortgage bond banks (VDH) (in former times: Connected German mortgage banks)

Altogether the center Kreditausschuss represents all banks, which are direct members or members of the member federations of these central associations. At present (2005) these are zirka 2,300 credit institutes with seat in Germany.

The center Kreditausschuss is organized neither as association nor as a society. It does not have an own juridical personality and no postal address. The external appearance and the publication of its common positions are taken over in each case by the responsible federation. The leadership changes annually at the beginning of the calendar year between the German savings bank and Giroverband, the Federal association of German banks and the Federal association of the German people banks and Raiffeisen banks.

By co-operation in centers the Kreditausschuss try the federations, common points of view in questions of the bank right to formulate the banking policy and the practice of the banking transaction. The positions are unanimously decided and held in written statements. The center Kreditausschuss represents the common points of view in relation to government, bank and financialeconomical institutions, like for example the Federal Institution for supervision of financial service (BaFin), other authorities and the legislative organs in the Federal Republic of Germany and the European union. The publication of the statements and further press releases is one of the tasks of the responsible federation.

The work centers of the Kreditausschusses is accomplished in working comitees, which accumulate regularly. To it for example competition committee or the work staff money automat belongs to the center.

Standardisation of the cashless money transfer

An important task centers of the Kreditausschusses is the development of standardized regulations for the exchange between the credit institutes involved and their customers. The prepared standards are fixed in contracts between in centers Kreditausschuss to represented central associations and their plants. The present Treaties are called as a rule "“agreements"”. To the inland exchange in Germany the following agreements apply:

• Agreement over the long-distance data transmission between customers and credit institutes (telecommunications agreements)
• Agreement over voucherless data exchange in the inter-company completion of the inland exchange (clearing agreement)
• Agreement over the guidelines for uniform exchange forms
• Homebanking agreement
• Agreement to transfer traffic
• Agreement over the introduction of cheques (cheque agreements)
• Agreement over the introduction of traveler's cheques (traveler's cheque agreements)
• Agreement over debit traffic (debit agreement)
• Agreement over the introduction by changes and the return not redeemed and recalled change (change agreement),
• Agreement over the eurocheque system
• Agreement over the security the ec-pin
• Agreement over the German ec-Geldautomaten-system
• Agreement over the appointment of a maximum fee for the use of the institute-spreading money automats
• Agreement over a institute-spreading system for payment by transfer at automated cashes (electronics cash system)
• Agreement to the POZ system
• Agreement over the institute-spreading system "„money map"”

The agreements are for all in the federations organized credit institutes legally binding.

Perception of the tasks centers of the Kreditausschusses within the European union

On 1 January 1993, the introduction of the third stage of the European economic and monetary union on 1 January 1999 and the euro-cash introduction to 1 January 2002 to the fact it led the establishment of the European domestic market that the tasks centers of the Kreditausschusses in increasing measure on the European level must be fulfilled. This applies both to the lobbying and to the task of the standardisation of the exchange. In December 1992 the European Committee was created for Banking standard (ECBS). A goal of the ECBS is forcing the structure of the technical infrastructure for the European exchange by the development of standards. Internationally the bank account NUMBER (IBAN) was developed for example by the ECBS. In the spring 2002 the European Payments Council (EPC) was called by 42 European banks and different bank federations in the life. Purpose of the European Payments Councils is the implementation of a uniform euro-exchange area SEPA (single euro Payments AREA). German banks are represented both in the ECBS and in the EPC. For the uniform agency of the interests of the German credit institutes and for the intensification of the cooperation in these committees the center Kreditausschuss created the ZKA office SEPA on 3 June 2004. To the individual working groups in the EPC in the ZKA office SEPA so-called mirror working groups were furnished, which are occupied with same subjects. The respective co-ordinator of the mirror working group is represented also in the appropriate EPC working group.

Related links

• www.zentraler-kreditausschuss.de

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