 | | Payment transactions
| In Switzerland, payment transactions are handled primarily by the central bank (Swiss National Bank – SNB), the commercial banks and PostFinance. The SNB supplies the economy with cash via the banking system and PostFinance (www.postfinance.ch). While the operative side of electronic payments is handled by the SIX Group (www.six-group.com) (which is jointly owned by the banks), and PostFinance. The SNB oversees Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) and keeps the participants' accounts in this system. SIC is the major payment system in Switzerland, processing almost all interbank clearings from large-value transactions to mass-market transfers.
| Tasks of the SNB
| In accordance with the National Bank Act (NBA), the SNB’s tasks include facilitating and securing the functioning of the cashless payment systems.
| Interbank clearing system SIC
| The electronic Swiss Interbank Clearing System (SIC) (www.six-interbank-clearing.com) is operated by SIX Interbank Clearing AG, a subsidiary of the SIX Group, on behalf of the SNB. The banks, and to some extent also PostFinance, execute their payments through this system. SIC has a direct link to SECOM, the securities clearing system of SIX SIS AG. This link makes it possible for securities and repo transactions to be carried out with simultaneous delivery and payment.
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