Some interbank funds transfers are processed in the clearing and settlement system operated by TecBan, which has been operating since April 22, 2002. These transfers are mainly related to payments with debit cards and withdrawals from the shared ATM network called “Banco24Horas”. Multilateral netting is used, and the final settlement of positions is processed by means of STR in accounts held by participants at the Banco Central do Brasil. As under the current regulation this settlement system is not considered systemically important, the settlement in the accounts at the Banco Central do Brasil has been an option of the clearinghouse.
In most of its transactions, TecBan guarantees the settlement. For this purpose, participants deposit collaterals and are subject to operational limits. Settlement will be on T or T+1 depending on the time in which the transaction that originates the funds transfer occurs. There are two settlement cycles in each business day, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. In the first session, which ends at 10:10am, transactions confirmed by the participants the business day before, from 2:00pm up to midnight, are settled. In the second session, which ends 5:10pm, are settled same day transactions, since they are confirmed up to 2:00pm.
A private communication network is used to transmit data between the capture points (ATM, POS etc) and TecBan. All confirmations are made on a real-time basis, except for direct debits and miscellaneous credits. The system comprises 36 banking institutions (June, 2006), and some 93 million of payment cards.