December 31, 2013
The UK payment system has grown markedly since the financial crisis.
Five large global banks have decided to join the UK electronic payments system CHAPS Clearing Co., giving them guarantees of same-day settlement for high-value payments. The five – BNY Mellon, ING Bank, Northern Trust, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, previously had to go through one of the member banks to transact through the system.
Five large global banks have decided to join the UK electronic payments system CHAPS Clearing Co., giving them guarantees of same-day settlement for high-value payments. The five – BNY Mellon, ING Bank, Northern Trust, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, previously had to go through one of the member banks to transact through the system.
CHAPS, or Clearing House Automated Payment System, is the key UK payments system. The decision by the five banks to register as direct members raises the number of direct participants to 25, up 11 since 2008, according to the Bank of England. Each of its direct participants serves thousands of secondary participants. According to CHAPS, a direct participant can send and receive irrevocable, guaranteed sterling payments with same day settlement finality.
CHAPS settles an average of GBP270 billion per day, with an average transaction size of about GBP2 million.