A value-added messaging service
Fundamentally, SEPAmail is a value-added messaging service.
As any messaging service, there is a sender of the message, a receiver and one or several routing relays. For SEPAmail, the structuring components are listed below:
- the addresses, both of senders and receiver, is based on the BIC (Bank Code) and on the IBAN (account within the bank), which can be represented by the "IBAN@BIC" format
- banks (more precisely the BIC and IBAN managers) are the routing relays
- the authentication of all the actors must be strong and this authentication is performed by banks
- the bank is responsible for the link between itself and its customer, both for technical matters and for authentication (as long it is a strong one), which allows to plan services depending on the access channels
- all exchanges are authenticated but also confidential
- the data exchanged are called missives which include a message structured in XML and able to transmit binary files
- the missives are structured by ecosystem and per type which allows a flexibility in the organisation of the complex flows between customers
- XML messages allowing the coexistence of the ISO standards with non ISO specific data
- the binary data may be used to transport readable attached documents, PDF for instance, which provides a flexible display and reading for customers
These main structural components are summarised in the diagram below:
SEPAmail IBAN@BIC addresses
The addresses of economic entities are based on the IBAN@BIC format, stable in the banking relationships with the economic entities. In addition, the IBAN and the BIC standardisation at a European level and even globally allows to plan a very large usage of this concept of messaging service. Indeed, the referencing of European bank accounts is standardised based on the IBAN and the BIC.
Authentication and Identification
The authentication and the identification of the forward and the receipt are the responsibility of the bank owning the BIC. This allows this bank to value the identification banking technologies to its customers, using the trust and the security provided by regulations on these authentication means.
Messages transmission by rebound
Messages are transmitted by rebound, according to the 4-corner model, while respecting the independence of each security space and of channels.
- sender of the message to its bank (sender's bank)
- sender's bank to the receiver's bank (or receiver)
- receiver's bank to the receiver
This principle already demonstrated its strength in the context of the bank card business.
The links between banks are based on Internet (IP network)
The use of Internet between banks allows:
- a low-cost transport capability
- a backup capability
- a valorization of DNS, native routing system of any IP network
The messages between banks are structured by using systematically ISO or W3C standards
This allows to specialize messages for each specific business purpose. In SEPAmail, a Creditor may send a "payment-request message" as with a classic email, this Creditor would send an amount and a free text, the receiver having the responsibility to understand it is a payment request.
In addition to the generic structure of the missive (envelope around the message), SEPAMAIL only integrates existing standards in order to avoid creating new ones.