Updated on 09.01.2012.

The Bank of Latvia ensures the operation of the interbank retail payment system, i.e., the Bank of Latvia's electronic clearing system (EKS). The EKS is the only clearing (net settlement) system in Latvia that ensures the settlement of a large volume of customer credit transfers in lats and euro. The EKS has two lats clearing cycles and four euro clearing cycles per business day (for the settlements in euro, the EKS operates in accordance with the TARGET2 business day calendar).

As of 9 November 2010 EKS euro is SEPA compliant system, which ensures its participants' capability to send and receive euro payments within SEPA area - EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Monaco. The EKS euro has been elaborated in accordance with criteria stated by the European Central Bank and the European Payments Council. The criteria cover certain payment handling, infrastructure interoperability and reachability principles, as well as open and fair market access principles. To ensure interoperability with other infrastructures of the SEPA and reachability of the EKS participants, the EKS exchanges cross-border credit transfer messages with the Euro Banking Association system STEP2 via the SEPA Clearer, the system of Deutsche Bundesbank.

On 3 August 2009, the Bank of Latvia addressed a disclosure letter to the European Payments Council stating its intent to make the EKS a SEPA credit transfer scheme compliant clearing and settlement infrastructure. The self-assessment of EKS SEPA-compliance conducted by the Bank of Latvia in accordance with the ECB Terms of reference for the SEPA-compliance of infrastructures is enclosed. The self-assessment ascertains the compliance of the EKS with SEPA requirements. In November 2010 European Payments Council published at the list of SEPA Credit Transfer Scheme-compliant infrastructures the Bank of Latvia as the EKS SEPA operator. The self-assessment of the SEPA-compliance of the EKS of the Bank of Latvia, meeting the ECB Terms of Reference for the SEPA-compliance of infrastructures, has been enclosed. On 19 January the Bank of Latvia updated the self-assessment of EKS SEPA-compliance in accordance with performed changes in the system related to the introduction of SEPA requirements.