Faster Payments

Keeping you up to speed

Launched on 27 May, 2008, Faster Payments is a ground-breaking new system specifically designed to radically speed up some Standing Orders and sterling payments made either online or via the telephone. The system, founded by 13 of the UK's largest banks and building societies, allows near real-time payments to and from participating member banks.

The new system will bring about some important new enhancements to your payment options, including:

• Ability to send near real-time payments using your online or telephone banking facility.
• Ability to receive near real-time payments into your Bank of Scotland Corporate Account.
• Option to track your payments and confirm they were successfully sent.
• Ability to initiate Future Dated Faster Payments (available from September 2008).

Further key information regarding this innovative new system can be found below.

How long will it take for a Faster Payment to be made to a beneficiary?

Payments sent via Faster Payments will in normal circumstances be received by the beneficiary within a few hours. As the service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week you will benefit from the convenience of instructing payments when you wish. Each payment will receive a 'Status' message from the recipient bank, which will provide information on how soon the funds will be available to the recipient.

Which types of accounts will be able to receive transactions via Faster Payments?

Faster Payments can be received by all accounts that currently receive Bacs Credits and Standing Orders in the three day system. This includes current accounts, saving accounts and loans. In 95% of cases, the funds will be available for withdrawal within 2 hours. There is a maximum limit of £10,000 per transaction permitted when using Faster Payments.

What types of Faster Payments are available?

• Single Immediate Payment – A single payment created online or via telephone banking that a customer wishes to make immediately
• Future Dated Payment – A single payment created online or via telephone banking with a debit date in the future that the customer chooses to send through the Faster Payments Service
• Standing Orders – An instruction given to your bank to make payments on a regular basis. If the beneficiary bank and account are eligible to receive Faster Payments the Standing Orders will automatically be processed this way. If not, the existing Bacs route will be used

Once a Faster Payment has been submitted, can it be recalled or cancelled?

• Immediate Payments – these cannot be recalled or cancelled once instructed
• Future Dated Payments – set up online or via telephone banking, these can be cancelled up to midnight on the day before the payment is due.
• Standing Orders – to cancel Standing Orders you must provide a minimum notice of 3 working days. If sufficient notice to cancel is not provided it is the customers responsibility to request a repayment from the beneficiary

When will Faster Payments be debited to a customer's account?

For Immediate Payments, funds will be debited at the time of making the instruction. In all cases, customers must ensure that funds are available for the payment before it is made. For Standing Orders and Future Dated Payments, funds will be debited on the nominated date and should be in the account the day before the payment is due to be made.

Can customers choose to send their Standing Orders via Faster Payments or the Bacs 3 day service?

When the rollout is complete, HBOS will send all Standing Orders that are eligible, via Faster Payments, as this reduces the time it takes to reach the beneficiary's account (there will be no associated charges in these circumstances). Any Standing Orders instructed for accounts which cannot accept Faster Payments or are above the £100,000 limit will be routed via the 3 day Bacs service.

How will I know if my payment is to be processed faster?

When a payment is created online (excluding Standing Orders), confirmation of the payment status and outcome for receipt by the beneficiary will be displayed. For telephone banking the service agent will be able to provide this information for Immediate Payments.

What are the scheme transactions limits for Faster Payments?

This information is available on the APACs website.

Will Direct Debits be affected by the introduction of Faster Payments?

No. There will be no change to Direct Debits.

What currency can be used for Faster Payments?

At the moment only sterling transactions can be made via Faster Payments to and from UK bank accounts.

How can I take advantage of Faster Payments?

You can make Faster Payments using Corporate Online, our internet banking service or telephone banking. If you are not already registered for Corporate Online please visit www.corporateonline.co.uk today.

Find out more about the additional details and charges associated with Faster Payments.

When can a Faster Payment be delayed or rejected?

The majority of payments should be processed instantly. In some instances payment requests that may appear unusual to the normal running of your account may be referred for further confirmation for your own protection. If this happens the payment will only be sent on completion of this check. Where the beneficiary details are invalid these payments will not be processed.

In addition the beneficiary bank will review the payments and may in some instances not be able to accept the payment for example, where the account has been closed. The payment will be automatically rejected and show as a correcting entry in your account.

To take advantage of Faster Payments simply call 0845 300 6444† or visit www.corporateonline.co.uk to register for our award-winning Corporate Online services.

How long will it take for a Faster Payment to clear?

Faster Payments clear immediately on receipt. However the timescales from creation to completion will differ depending on the payment type selected via the Faster Payment Service;

• Immediate Payment – The whole process from initiating the payment to getting the confirmation of a successful transaction will normally be within seconds and no longer than two hours.
• Future Dated Payment – The payments will be debited on the diarised date and received by the beneficiary on the same day.
• Standing Order – The payments will be debited on the diarised date or the next working day and received by the beneficiary on the same day as debited.

Customers will be advised of the timescales for sending Faster Payments at the time of using the Faster Payments Service.

When can I withdraw money after a Faster Payment has been paid into my account, and when will the cleared funds start to earn interest?

Funds paid into the account using the Faster Payments Service can be withdrawn as soon as they arrive in the account. Credit interest is calculated each day on the cleared balance in the account and is paid in line with the terms and conditions of the account e.g. Business Current Account, interest is paid each month on the last bank working day.

How will outbound payments be rolled out?

From 18 August, HBOS will begin to send some external Retail, Corporate and Business Banking standing orders and Retail (TD01 platform) bill payments by the Faster Payments Service. From this time customers could start to notice payments arriving in beneficiary accounts sooner. The roll-out will continue throughout September. By the end of September most standing orders and Retail bill payments will be sent via the Faster Payments Service, and will arrive in receiving accounts on the same day they leave the sending account. Also in September, Immediate Faster Payments will be made available to customers in Corporate, Retail and Business Banking. The majority of these payments will arrive in receiving accounts within two hours. Also from that date Corporate, Business Banking and Retail (CBS platform) customers will then be able to choose to send Future Dated Bill Payments via the Faster Payments Service.

† Telephone calls may be recorded for security purposes and monitored under our quality control procedures.