The Euro Banking Association (EBA), also referred by its French acronym ABE-EBA (French: Association bancaire pour l'euro), is a trade association for the European payments industry with close to 200 member banks and organisations from the European Union and around the world aimed at fostering and driving pan-European payment initiatives. The ABE-EBA has strived to contribute to the creation of a standardised Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).

The EBA was instrumental in the establishment in June 1998 of EBA Clearing, to which it transferred projects that were under development at the time including EURO1, but has always been a separate organization.

History and structure

The ABE-EBA was founded in Paris in 1985 by 18 commercial banks and the European Investment Bank. The European Commission as well as the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) supported the founding of the ABE-EBA. Since then, the number of members has risen to almost 200. The institutions come from all member states of the European Union as well as from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, China, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

In its early years, the agenda of the ABE-EBA included the promotion of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the development and management of a private industry ECU clearing system stretching across Europe. This was transferred in 1999 to EBA Clearing.

Member banks

As of end-2024 the following banks were members of ABE-EBA, with national classification as indicated on the association's website:

Leadership

In 1986, the ABE-EBA appointed Gilbert Lichter as its secretary-general, a position he held until 1989 and again from 1992 to 2016. Since 2016, the secretary-general of the ABE-EBA has been Mr Thomas Egner.