29 April 2022

Replacement of the Multi Bank Standard in Austria by EBICS

After Austria joined the EBICS society in July 2020, the Austrian banking industry is now taking the next step towards the future.

The hitherto existing electronic banking technique MBS for corporate customers will no longer be developed further.

Instead, preparations are underway for the nationwide use of EBICS at all credit institutions.

New possibilities with EBICS

Since autumn 2001, the Multi Bank Standard MBS/IP has been the technique for electronic banking and telebanking for corporate customers with all Austrian banks.

However, the transmission protocol designed by Raiffeisen Software GmbH on behalf of STUZZA will not be further developed, but frozen in the current state of the existing versions 7.0 and 6.0.

EBICS as successor to MBS in Austria

New payment transaction formats, e.g. for real-time transactions in the SEPA area, will only be supported by the future technique, the Electronic Banking Internet Communication Standard (EBICS).

Changeover already in progress

To date, there is no concrete timetable for the changeover. This applies both to a minimum duration for the MBS technique and to a mandatory start date for EBICS.

However, it is already certain that the new EBICS specification will be used in version 3.0.

Regardless of the detailed requirements that are still outstanding, many Austrian credit institutions are currently preparing the new connection for corporate customers — or have already completed it.

For customers of the Austrian savings banks, for example, the connection via EBICS has
already been available since summer 2019.

Reliable EBICS server for Austria

The proven BL Banking Server from Business-Logics supports all EBICS versions and implements a wide range of national and international payment formats.

Thanks to the modular architecture and the generally open interfaces, the system is ideally suited for all banks in Austria for connecting corporate customers.

The manufacturer also offers first-class support in terms of service: from software introduction to employee training, all areas are taken care of for smooth operation.

In particular, banks can count on the support of Business-Logics when migrating existing data and smoothly integrating the server into the existing IT landscape.

In combination with the fair license model, the server of the Hilden-based software house represents a perfect solution for the entry into EBICS.