NATIONAL COLLATOR

The RBA performs the role of ‘National Collator’ of low-value clearing stream obligations on behalf of the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA). There are three low-value clearing streams: cheques, bulk electronic (direct entry payments) and consumer electronic (ATMs and EFTPOS). 

Each bank that participates in a low-value clearing stream sends the National Collator an Exchange Summary for each clearing stream following the end of each banking day. The Exchange Summary contains the bank’s settlement obligations against each of the other banks for every clearing stream. A single net obligation across all clearing streams (either a debit or a credit) is calculated for each bank. These net obligations are entered into RITS and settled in the 9am Batch on the business day following exchange.