The History of X9

In 1974, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved the scope of activity for the X9 Standards Committee on Banking, as “Standardization for Facilitating Banking Operations.” The X9 Standards Committee operated as part of the American Bankers Association and concentrated on check standards.

Expansion & Name Change

In June, 1976, the X9 Standards Committee approved expansion of its membership to include vendors, insurance companies, associations, retailers, regulators, and others in the financial services area. With this approval, the name was changed to X9, Financial Services.

ANSI first granted X9 official accreditation in 1984 as a standards development organization for the financial services industry. An accreditation X9 proudly still holds today and the official committee name became the Accredited Standards Committee X9, Financial Services. In 2001, X9 separated from the ABA and was incorporated under a 501(C)(6) nonprofit designation for associations. The name changed slightly to Accredited Standards Committee X9, Financial Services Inc. (“ASC X9”).

ASC X9 operates under its own procedures as well as those prescribed and approved by the American National Standards Institute. Presently, ASC X9 operates 5 technical subcommittees and 20-to-30 technical working and study groups that develop financial industry technical standards, reports and whitepapers for domestic use in the United States.

ASC X9 participates in the development of international standards for the global financial services industry through the ISO Technical Committee for Financial Services TC68. ASC X9 is the USA Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to TC68 under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), of Geneva, Switzerland. In this role, X9 holds the USA vote on all ISO standards of TC68 or its subcommittees SC2, SC8, and SC9. X9 further provides subject matter experts to develop international standards. ASC X9 also provides the secretariat function to TC68.

ASC X9 standards are widely used and recognized in the financial services industry. Many X9 standards are either cited or required by the Federal government for use in financial procedures and transactions. In addition, X9 standards are the basis for many international standards used in facilitating global commerce.