Here’s how the Bank of London is enabling faster payments for millions

By Puja Sharma

The Faster Payment System is a 24/7 service, supporting the demands of the UK’s economy that enables real-time payments for millions of individuals, businesses, and charities across the country.

The Bank of London, the leading-edge technology company and the world’s first purpose-built global clearing, agency, and transaction bank, announced it has become a Directly Connected Settling Participant (DCSP) of the Faster Payment System, the UK’s 24*7 real-time payments infrastructure.

The Faster Payment System is a 24h, 365 days per year service, supporting the demands of the UK’s economy. The service enables real-time payments for millions of individuals, businesses, and charities across the UK.

The Bank of London is a leading-edge technology company and the world’s first purpose-built global clearing, agency, and transaction bank. Launched in November 2021 as the sixth principal clearing bank of the United Kingdom, and only the second in 250 years. With a $1.1b valuation, it is the first bank in history to attain ‘unicorn’ status upon debut.

With headquarters in London and offices in New York, The Bank of London has been established to serve banks, clearinghouses, digital & traditional asset firms, governments, financial services companies from local FinTech to global institutions, payment networks, and non-financial brands seeking to launch fully compliant financial products and services in-country and across borders.

In 2021 alone, the Faster Payments System processed 3.4 billion payments (an increase of 20% from 2020), with a value of £2.6t (an increase of 24% from 2020).

The Bank of London and Pay.UK (the operator of the Faster Payment System) is committed to levelling the playing field for access, promoting competition, and ensuring the full real-time service is available to as many end-users as possible.

Pay.UK maintains and develops the UK retail payment systems and standards that are core to the economy being able to function on a day-to-day basis. From Bacs Payments to Faster Payments and Cheque Payments – we act as the single operator for all UK retail payments.

Since its inception in 2008, the Faster Payment System has been joined by several other DCSPs, several non-bank Payment Service Providers, and hundreds more who access the system indirectly through a sponsor bank, such as The Bank of London. Felipe Hillard, Chief Customer & Product Officer at The Bank of London, said: “The Bank of London’s goal is to be the preeminent banking partner for institutions with cross-border needs and to leverage our unique patented technologies to become a global leader in banking-and-compliance-as-a-service – powering our clients and partners to drive the next wave of financial innovation.”

Formally joining the Faster Payment System as a DCSP is one of the many critical milestones that will power our vision of embedding open access, removing inefficiencies, and driving choice and competition in a market that for far too long has been poorly served by the heritage incumbents.

Dougie Belmore, Chief Payments Officer of Pay, said: “It’s great news that The Bank of London has joined the Faster Payment System, giving their customers access to our world-class 24/7 real-time payments system. At Pay. In the UK we are continually looking to improve our payment systems for the benefit of end-users, and The Bank of London joining is a clear example of our commitment to meet customer needs for the benefit of the UK as a whole.”