Corporate clients demand technologically forward-looking standard products which can be used for multi-bank payments. Multi-bank capability, i.e. the accessibility of all banks, is essential for the corporate client since it is the only means of sending payment instructions to several banks in a cost-effective manner. The payment transactions involved include not only credit transfers and direct debits but cover the whole spectrum of corporate customers' cash management.

The advantages of using EBICS are:

• Allowing direct interaction of corporates with their banks
• A common standard for all banks and customers
• Established and open communication standard: Corporate customers can use standard (i.e. open source) or customised software
• European ERP systems are widely EBICS-ready
• European-wide multi-bank capability
• State-of-the-art-technology, international standards like XML, https, TLS, ZIP
• Highest security protocol possible  i.e. encryption at transport and application level (end-to-end)
• Single access for all business transactions, i.e. direct debits and credit transfers, account statements, cash management, securities and many others
• Location- and time-independent authorisation of submitted orders
• Electronic Distributed Signature (EDS) is a unique selling proposition

EBICS is also used in bank-to-bank-communication and between banks and Clearing and Settlement Mechanisms (CSMs). The evident features with regard to e.g. security, reliability and cost effiency are also well suited for the use of EBICS for interbank/CSM communication.

By joining the EBICS Company (EBICS SC), other countries will have the opportunity to adopt the EBICS procedure, thus making it a European standard.

The objective of the EBICS SC is to extend the use of EBICS to other European countries and to further harmonise transactions, electronic authentication, and customer-to-bank dataformats.