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Bulk Faster Payments FAQs

  • What is the Bulk Faster Payments service?

    Bulk Faster Payments allows you to make multiple payments securely in one go, saving you time and making processing easier. This service is only available through Online Banking.

    For step-by-step support with using the Bulk Faster Payments service, watch our tutorial.

  • How do I register for the Bulk Faster Payments service?

    Log into Online Banking and select ‘Register for Bulk Faster Payments’ from the Payments hub page. You must be an Online Banking administrator for your organisation to register.

  • What is an Online Banking administrator?

    An Online Banking administrator is an Internet User who is authorised to set transaction limits for your organisation. You must be an Online Banking administrator to register for Bulk Faster Payments and change your Bulk Faster Payments charging account.

  • How do I set up or change my organisation’s Online Banking administrator?

    You can make changes to your account, such as adding a new administrator and changing existing access levels, through our Account Management form.

  • How can I upload a Bulk Faster Payments file?
    • Log in to Online Banking
    • Select ‘New Bulk Payment’ tab and then ‘Select your payment file’ from the left-hand menu
    • Click ‘Select your payment file’ and select your saved payment file, or drag and drop the file
    • Select ‘Upload’
    • Review the details on the next screen and select ‘Approve and submit’ to confirm payment

    If your organisation has dual or triple authority set up in Online Banking, your file will need to be authorised by one or two additional users before it is processed.

  • What is a charging account and how are charges applied?

    Your charging account is the account that charges from Bulk Faster Payments are passed on to. This is separate to the ‘From Account’, which is the account the payment is sent from.

    You will be charged a maximum of 30p for each transaction in your payment file. Full details can be found in our Service Tariff.

  • What is the maximum number of Faster Payments per file?

    Make up to 100 payments in one go – no need to process payments individually.

  • Does a payee have to be an existing beneficiary?

    Payees do not have to be existing beneficiaries.

  • How long do Bulk Faster Payments take to be processed?

    Payments authorised before 3pm Monday – Friday will be debited immediately provided there are sufficient cleared funds available. All payments are subject to our internal fraud and Anti-Money Laundering checking processes which may delay the debit being applied in certain circumstances.

    Payments authorised after 3pm Monday – Friday will be debited and sent on the next working day, subject to funds being available. These payments will be shown in ‘Scheduled Payments’ until they are sent.

  • What is the Bulk Payments cut-off?

    We send three faster payment files throughout each working day. The cut-off times for these files occur at 10am, 12noon and 3pm. Payments authorised before these times will be processed, subject to internal checking processes outlined above.

    Once your account has been debited, the beneficiary will usually receive your payment that same day. If not, the funds will be available to them the next working day. Weekends and Bank Holidays are not working days and you will need to allow extra time in these cases.

  • Can a Bulk Faster Payment be future dated?

    Yes, payments can be scheduled to be sent up to 12 months in advance. Users can view and cancel the payment through the View Scheduled Payments and Expire Scheduled Payments pages until the payment date.

  • When do future dated payments expire?

    Payment files that have not received appropriate authorisation by the cut-off time are automatically deleted after 30 days.

  • How do Bulk Faster Payments appear on my statement?

    Each transaction will be listed in the same way as a single Faster Payment.

  • How can I view pending Bulk Payments?

    Once the instruction has been authorised it will be shown in ‘Scheduled Payments’.

  • What else can I expect from Bulk Faster Payments service?

    We are working on additional Bulk Faster Payment features that will benefit your organisation. These will be communicated with customers as soon as they are available.

  • How can I cancel the Bulk Faster Payments service?

    If you decide that the Bulk Faster Payments service is no longer suitable for your business, our friendly UK-based Call Centre team are here to help. Call us on 0345 140 1000 (Monday – Friday, 9am-4pm*) to get started.

*Our Call Centre opening hours are 9am – 4pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank and public holidays in England or Scotland. Calls may be monitored and recorded for training, quality and security purposes. Calls to this number are charged at your local geographic rate, and calls from mobiles may be higher. Please contact your telephone provider for details.

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