Is there something that you need to know about the payments industry but just can't find the answer anywhere? Our Experts have already helped lots of peoples with questions they didn't know the answer to. There are a wide range of questions and answers below, but if you can't find your answer there, or elsewhere in our Knowledge Centre, then ask us your own question using the form on the right and the answer will be posted on the website for you.
If I upgrade to the new
Bacs Same Day service, does it mean that I won't be able to use the
present Bacs 3-Day service again?
The good news is that you will have the option to use both
services, and Albany's software will help decide which is the best
route for you.
Will Albany be
integrating our SAGE Payroll software so that we can use it for the
traditional Bacs service as well as the new Faster Payment
service?
Yes, we will be able to integrate any Accountancy and Payroll
software into the combined Bacs approved software which we will be
developing.
We currently make about
14 CHAPS payments a month for less than £10,000 a time. It's such a
hassle having to fill in paper forms to take along to our local
branch, unlike our Bacs payments which are all generated from our
accountancy software, and then sent electronically. With Faster
Payments will this mean that we can't generate the payments from
our accountancy software?
The good news is that under the Faster Payment service for same
day payments of less than £10,000, you will be able to submit these
via Bacs in a similar integrated electronic way to that which you
now do for your 3-Day Bacs payments. Also, the Bank charges for
these are likely to be nearer £1 rather than the £30 currently
charged for each of your CHAPS payments.
What do you think will
be the most important benefits of Faster Payments to our
organisation?
Our own research results indicate that businesses are looking to
make cost savings compared to CHAPS (32%), offer improved services
to customers and staff (30%) and the attraction of the efficiency
of the Bacs process for making payments compared to CHAPS
(25%).
Aren't CHAPS
lower-value payments mainly used just for Supplier
Payments?
Surprisingly not. Feedback from a cross-section of our customers,
is telling us that 51% of CHAPS payments for less than £10,000 are
in respect of payroll items (mainly for missed or late payments,
and also expenses), with 27% in respect of Supplier Payments.
Given the links with
our accountancy and payroll packages, we would prefer to make our
Faster Payments through our organisation's Bacstel-IP solution.
Will this be possible?
Market research indicated that 90% of companies surveyed (who had
a view) also preferred a fully integrated solution. As such, Albany
will be providing one solution which will allow you to make both
the usual 3-day Bacs payments via Bacstel-IP as well as the Same
Day Faster Payments via the Secure-IP network.
With the launch date
fast approaching for the faster payments scheme can you provide me
with details of software you have to deal with this please? We
already run ALBACSbureau enterprise but are very interested in
anything you have which will allow us to process payments under
this scheme. There is mention of a combined Bacs & faster
payments application on your website - is this available
yet?
While Faster Payments for consumers will be launched at the end of
May 2008, the software for Corporates and Bureaux like yourselves
has yet to be developed. All Software developers are awaiting the
Technical Specification, which is due shortly, and will then
develop, test and pilot the software ready for launch in
Q2-2009.
Will Faster Payments be
expensive compared to the three-day Bacs payments?
It depends on your relationship with your bank and the overall
basis of your bank charges. The feeling is that initially the bank
charges for Direct Corporate Access bulk Direct Credits through
Faster Payments is likely to be higher than the three-day Bacs
payments, but at least a tenth of the price of CHAPS payments. But
some customers who may decide to send all their payroll (monthly,
weekly, over-time, expenses etc.) through Faster Payments might
well be able to negotiate a similar charge as their current Bacs
charges.
Why can I make Faster
Payments from my personal bank account but my not my business
account?
It depends on who you bank with and if you've got a business
internet bank account with them. At this stage Barclays, RBS Group
and HSBC business customers with appropriate internet bank accounts
are able to do this. The other banks are likely to roll out their
own services later this year.
Why do we choose the
"Faster Payments Service" over CHAPS?
The key benefits are price and automated processes. CHAPS charges
can vary between £10 and £30 per transaction. The most expensive
"Faster Payment Item" is £3, but some are as cheap as 35p per
item.. The FPS process is electronic and automated, whereas many
smaller businesses have to rely on filling in forms by hand
received from their local branch for each CHAPS transaction. With
Direct Corporate Access (currently provided by Barclays bank) one
could submit a large file of payments (up to 1.2 million
tranacstions) into the system rather than having to key one CHAPS
item at a time. While the CHAPS window close at about 3pm each
banking business day, Single Immediate Payments can be sent via the
FPS on a 24/7 basis, and (as from mid-March 2010) files of FPS
payments can be sent from 3am to 11pm Monday's to Friday. The only
downside at present is that the transaction limit for FPS is
currently £10,000 per transaction, while there is no upper limit on
CHAPS transactions. This limit is planned to be increased to
£20,000 during the year, and could reach £100,000 by the end of
2010.
Can you help me which
UK Bank makes SEPA transfer because I asked to my bank and they
said they can`t help me.
According to the European Payments Council (as at 13 February
2009) the following banks with offices in the UK, are registered
SEPA Credit Transfer Participants:-
The key points to keep in mind are that:-
Missing names include:-
What's the biggest
attraction to our business for making SEPA Credit Transfers from
2008?
Cheaper bank charges for making cross-border payments to the Euro
currency countries in Europe.
We make between 300
& 600 payments in euros per week to recipients throughout
Europe. Will SEPA help and what is the timetable for
implementation?
If you are making up to 5,000 Euro payments a month, the key
benefits to your business will include greatly reduced bank charges
for both you and the recipients, certainty that the funds will be
received within 3 days of being sent, being able to format the
payments electronically and the ability to send more reference
information with your payment. The SEPA Credit Transfer service
went "live" on the 28 January 2008, and each bank in the UK will
decide on how to use its own service, so speak to them shortly.
In the meantime, if you don't already check the BICs and IBANs for your recipients, you may wish to enquire about Albany's ALBANYverify solution.
We would like to start
making SEPA Credit Transfers from our UK bank account to our
subsidiaries in Europe. When will be able to start doing this, and
how should we be preparing?
The SEPA Credit Transfer service was available from 28 January
2008. Ask your UK bank what they are doing, then speak to us about
how we can support you with BIC and IBAN checking, and generating
and formatting the SEPA Credit Transfer payment from your
accountancy software ready for submission to your bank.
Why is my Bank now
forcing me to pay their charges for making Euro payments to Europe
when for many years my benificiaries have agreed to pay all
transfer charges. My Bank tells me it is a legal requirement of
SEPA and nothing to do with them, is this correct?
The introduction of SEPA Credit Transfers has resulted in each
bank following set standards across the whole of Europe for Euro
payments. In the past some banks charged their customers upfront to
send the payments, while some charged the beneficiary and many
charged both sets of customers (those sending and those receiving).
The decision was taken that the new Scheme Rules would work to one
set standard for bank charges, and only the sender of the payment
would, in future, pay them. One solution, would be for you to agree
with your beneficiary to receive their payments net of your upfront
bank charges in future. Additionally, you should be ensuring that
your bank provides the new cheaper charges tariff for SEPA Credit
Transfers. You might wish to compare bank charges. We understand,
for example, that the Bank of Ireland is very competitive.
Do you have any
software which will allow us to submit SEPA direct credit transfers
on behalf of clients?
Not yet. It might be a couple of years before this can be done. We
suggest you talk to your bankers as each UK bank has a different
way of handling SEPA Credit Transfers.
When can we expect to
see European Direct Debits becoming available?
Once the Payment Services Directive becomes law in all the EU
states on 1 November 2009, then many of the major European / UK
Banks will be offering products and services to be able to handle
both ordinary SEPA Direct Debits and also SEPS Business-to-Business
Direct Debits.
Can an Irish bank setup
a Euro merchant account for a company registered in
England?
All the major Irish Banks can maintain accounts for UK registered
companies who might wish to maintain accounts with them in Euro's.
They will also maintain accounts in Sterling, US Dollars and all
the major currencies
To your knowledge are
there any UK banks offering Euro accounts that comply to this
legislation on SEPA transfers if it exists?
If you're looking for the cheapest SEPA Credit Transfers from UK
Based banks, then look at the likes of Bank of Ireland and Allied
Irish Banks (given that the Republic of Ireland currency is the
Euro)where SEPA Credit Transfer bank charges are nearer 10
euro-cents (and some internet bank payments are free).
Are SEPA tariffs
regulated by the EU and if so is there a maximum charge that UK
banks are not supposed to exceed when sending from UK Euro
accounts?
Basically, cross-border SEPA Credit Transfers should be charged at
the same rate as domestic internal transfers in Euros. In Europe
this means that all SEPA Credit Transfers in Euro are at about the
10 euro cents charge rate rather than the previous 10 Euro's bank
charge rate. Under these rules, the main UK banks were still
allowed to charge for SEPA Credit Transfers at the lowest rate they
were charging for Euro payments, and these were high. For example
Barclays used to charge at the lowest rate for cross-border Euro
payments from a Euro account at £10, so they launched SEPA Credit
Transfers at £10 per transfer. Barclays latest charge is about £5
per transfer (and not the 20p many thought it would become).
Charges for most of the major UK banks are nearer the £5 level for
their SEPA Credit Transfers.
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