Sterling B2B Integrator - Overview of EBICS

Electronic Banking Internet Communication Standard (EBICS) is an Internet-based communication and security standard. EBICS is a European banking standard. EBICS is primarily used for remote data transfer, such as corporate payment transactions, between an organization and a bank.

EBICS allows data file exchange independent of message standards and formats. EBICS uses an established digital signature and encryption procedures. EBICS features are based on international standards for internet communication and improved security, for example, XML, HTTPS, TLS, and SSL. EBICS also contains multi-bank capability, wherein corporate clients in countries that have adopted EBICS can transact with any bank in those countries using the same software.

An organization has to fulfill a range of prerequisites for it to be able to implement bank-technical EBICS transactions with a particular bank. The basic prerequisite to implement EBICS transactions is the completion of a contract between the partner and the bank. The EBICS protocol defines bank transactions (order types) for communication. The following details are agreed upon in this contract:

• Type of business transactions.
• Information about the user’s bank accounts.
• Information about the partners users working with the bank’s system.
• Authorizations and permissions of the users.

The partner receives the access data of the bank (bank parameters) after the contract is signed. The bank configures the partner and user master data in the bank system in accordance with the contractual agreements. Other prerequisites include subscriber initialization, download of the bank’s public certificates by the user, verification of the user’s public certificates by the bank, and verification of the bank’s certificates by the trading partner.

IBM® Sterling B2B Integrator offers a complete EBICS solution by providing a secure, flexible, and efficient platform to banks and organizations for performing the transactions. The implementation of this solution is divided into two major components: EBICS Banking Server and EBICS Client. EBICS Banking Server represents a bank and EBICS Client represents an organization. Both the server and the client are deployed over Sterling B2B Integrator.