What is a Faster Payment?

Faster Payments is an initiative introduced in 2008 and operated by payments authority Pay UK. It allows funds to be transferred rapidly and securely between UK bank accounts at any time.

How do Faster Payments work?

Businesses can make Faster Payments in several ways, including via mobile banking, internet banking, telephone banking, in-branch and by using payment platforms.

How can businesses benefit from Faster Payments?

Faster Payments help businesses by providing a quicker and more convenient solution for moving money. The scheme’s primary goal is to reduce the time – from initiation to receipt of the funds – that it takes to complete a payment.

What types of businesses can use Faster Payments?

Any UK business requiring domestic disbursement of funds (and international companies looking to send money within the UK) can use Faster Payments.

Are Faster Payments free?

No, there are fees involved in using Faster Payments for businesses. The fee is completely different for each business and depends on different factors such as industry and volume of payments.

How long do Faster Payments take?

Faster Payments take a matter of seconds. Provided the beneficiary’s bank is also a direct participant of the Faster Payments Scheme, the money will be received almost instantly. In rare cases, Faster Payments may take up to two hours.

Do Faster Payments have a transaction limit?

Faster Payments have an individual transaction limit of £250,000.

Can Faster Payments be reversed?

No, Faster Payments cannot be reversed or cancelled.

Which banks use Faster Payments?

The Faster Payments Scheme states that 99.99% of UK bank accounts can accept Faster Payments. Non-bank payment platforms, such as Equals Money, can also use the scheme.

13/09 - Big week for inflation data

GBP: Growth stalls

EUR: ECB slow PEPP

USD: Record PPI

Sterling

Sterling traded in a tight range last week mainly trading off negative euro flows. Disappointing GDP data added to a recent run of weak economic data indicating the rate of growth has slowed rapidly and may well have peaked back in June/July. With the extraordinary government stimulus measures due to end this month the real test for the economy lies ahead.

Ahead of next week’s BOE rate decision the key data points this week for sterling will be tomorrow’s employment data, the inflation report due Wednesday and retail sales on Friday.

Euro

Last week’s trading in the single currency was mainly dominated by the latest ECB meeting. The central bank announced a slowing of the PEPP programme (Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme) and released their latest forecasts for growth and inflation, both of which underwhelmed the markets with inflation forecast to still be well below target for the next 2 years.

In the subsequent press conference ECB President Lagarde said we are moving in the right direction, but we are definitely not there yet – citing the 2m+ more unemployed than pre-pandemic

Key data point this week for the euro will be the inflation report due Friday.

USD

The dollar regained its poise last week following the highest ever reading for producer price inflation. Input prices surged once more as rising raw material costs and continued supply bottlenecks continue to wreak havoc on manufacturers. The key question moving forward is will these higher costs get passed onto the consumer, placing even more importance on Tuesday’s inflation report and Thursday’s retail sales figures ahead of next week’s FOMC meeting.

Elsewhere

China’s aggressive regulatory crackdown on internet companies last week saw Asian equites markets hit hard and added to the general risk-off sentiment.

As a result, we saw heavy selling in the so-called risk on currencies such as AUD and NZD.

Market rates

Today’s Interbank Rates at 08:56 against sterling. Movement vs yesterday.

Euro	€1.172 ↑
US dollar	$1.381 ↑
Australian dollar	$1.877 ↑
South African rand	R19.56 ↑
Japanese yen	¥152.1 ↑

Have a great day.

13/09 – Big week for inflation data

13/09 – Big week for inflation data

Sterling

Euro

USD

Elsewhere

Market rates

Jeremy Thomson-Cook

13/09 – Big week for inflation data

Register interest

Register interest

Sterling

Euro

USD

Elsewhere

Market rates

Thanks for subscribing to our market reports!

Jeremy Thomson-Cook