A Guide to CENTROlink and FinXP as a Direct Participant
What CENTROlink is, what direct participation means, and how FinXP's status as a direct participant can be independently verified.
Prospective clients, partners and financial institutions carrying out due diligence on FinXP's payment infrastructure, who want to understand what CENTROlink is specifically, rather than SEPA in general terms, and what it means in practice that FinXP connects to it as a direct participant.
What this guide covers
What CENTROlink is
CENTROlink is the payment system operated by Latvijas Banka, the central bank of Latvia, providing participating institutions with access to the SEPA schemes: SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Instant Credit Transfer, and SEPA Direct Debit, as well as connectivity to the wider Eurosystem settlement infrastructure. Think of it as a settlement gateway: an institution that connects to CENTROlink gains reach across the whole SEPA area through a single technical and settlement relationship, rather than negotiating separate arrangements with every national clearing system it touches.
CENTROlink publishes a list of its participants, distinguishing between direct participants, which hold their own settlement account and technical connection, and indirect participants, which access the system through a direct participant acting as their sponsor. It’s the same distinction that runs through how any institution ultimately reaches SEPA, regardless of which payment system it connects to.
Direct participation versus indirect access
A direct participant holds its own settlement account with CENTROlink and its own technical connection into the system, which means payments settle without an intermediary institution sitting in the chain. An indirect participant relies on a direct participant to sponsor its access, routing payments through that sponsor’s own account and connection instead.
FinXP holds direct participation in CENTROlink as a Malta-licensed Electronic Money Institution. That’s a verifiable fact, not a marketing description: CENTROlink’s published participant list identifies which institutions hold direct status, so a partner conducting due diligence can independently verify FinXP’s status against that list rather than taking FinXP’s own word for it.
Take the full briefing with you
You've covered the fundamentals. The full briefing continues in a downloadable PDF: sector comparisons, practice notes and a due-diligence checklist. Tell us a little about your business and the download starts straight away.
- What direct participation changes in practice
- How to verify direct participation independently
Get the full guide
A few details and the download starts straight away.
Get the full guide
A few details and the download starts straight away.
| Aspect | Direct participant (FinXP) | Indirect participant |
|---|---|---|
| Settlement account | Held directly with CENTROlink | Accessed via a direct participant’s own account |
| Technical connection | Direct connection into CENTROlink | Connectivity routed through the sponsor’s own system |
| Participant status | Independently listed as a direct participant | Not separately listed; relies on the sponsor’s own status |
| Processing chain | One party between FinXP’s client and settlement | Two or more parties in the chain before settlement |
| Continuity | Set by FinXP’s own standing as a participant | Dependent on the sponsor’s continued participation |
What direct participation changes in practice
The practical effects of direct participation show up in the places already covered elsewhere in this series: settlement timing FinXP controls directly rather than inheriting from a sponsor’s own processing schedule, payment tracing that runs against the settlement system itself, and continuity that depends on FinXP’s own standing as a participant rather than a second institution’s independent decision to keep sponsoring access. This guide focuses on CENTROlink specifically as the underlying system; the SEPA Payments and SEPA Direct Debit guides in this series set out what that means for credit transfers and collections respectively.
For a financial institution or partner assessing FinXP as a counterparty, CENTROlink participation status is one of the more concrete, checkable facts on offer; precisely because it doesn’t depend on taking FinXP’s word for it at all.
How to verify direct participation independently
- Check CENTROlink’s published participant list, maintained by Latvijas Banka, for FinXP’s direct participant status
- Confirm the specific schemes covered by that participation, since direct status can apply to SCT, SCT Inst and SDD
- Ask any provider making a similar claim to point to the equivalent published evidence, rather than accepting the claim unverified
- Treat reluctance or vagueness in response to this specific question as a signal worth following up on
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between CENTROlink and SEPA itself?
SEPA is the broader framework and set of schemes governing euro payments across the Single Euro Payments Area. CENTROlink is one of the payment systems institutions can connect to to reach those schemes — infrastructure that provides access to SEPA, not SEPA itself.
Is CENTROlink the same as TARGET2?
No. TARGET2 is the Eurosystem’s real-time gross settlement system for large-value payments. CENTROlink is a payment system operated by Latvijas Banka that gives participants access to the SEPA retail schemes and connects into the broader Eurosystem infrastructure, but it’s a distinct system with a distinct purpose.
How can a partner verify FinXP’s direct participant status?
By checking CENTROlink’s published list of participants, maintained by Latvijas Banka, which distinguishes direct participants from indirect ones; entirely independent of anything FinXP states directly.
Does FinXP’s direct participation cover SCT, SCT Inst and SDD?
FinXP’s direct CENTROlink participation supports SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Instant Credit Transfer, and SDD Core collections, as set out in the SEPA Payments and SEPA Direct Debit guides in this series.
Next step
FinXP holds direct participation in CENTROlink, independently verifiable against Latvijas Banka's published participant list. Speak to the team if you would like to discuss this as part of your due diligence.
FinXP is a Malta-licensed Electronic Money Institution with Mastercard Principal Membership and direct CENTROlink SEPA participation; a licensed payments core built for sectors regulated-market institutions won't serve: digital assets, marketplaces, cross-border payroll, and high-volume digital commerce, alongside fintechs, PSPs, and other regulated entities building on FinXP's infrastructure.