Internet banking has made transferring money to friends’ accounts quicker and easier than ever. It’s as simple as logging onto your banking app. However, there is now a new way to transfer money, with payment times lowered from three working days (which is typically how long a BACS payments takes), down to mere seconds.
Here’s a quick summary about fast payment technologies and how they work:
What is a Fast Payment Transaction?
A payment transaction is a one-off or regular payment that can be instructed through a mobile phone, online or through a telephone banking service. This includes single immediate payments, forward-dated payments, standing orders, and bulk business payments.
With fast payments, all of these services have a same-day transmission, so you’re notified within minutes or even seconds about the transfer. This means you can keep tighter control of your finances, which is particularly useful for businesses who have a regular movement of cash flow on a daily basis.
How does the Technology Work?
Faster payments allow users to see credit and access funds in their account within a matter of seconds. But how does this actually work? As explained here, the process of faster payments generally work in this way:
- The user instructs their bank to make a payment, subject to usual security verification checks
- They will provide the account number and sort code of where they want the money to be transferred to, as well as reference details
- The bank will check that there are sufficient funds before allowing the payment to be made
- The bank sends the transaction through the Faster Payments Service, who then send the payment instruction through to the receiving bank
- The receiving bank will verify the payment and send a message back to the Faster Payments Service whether it has accepted the payment
- The Faster Payments Service credits the receiving bank with the funds and informs the sending bank whether the transaction has been successful
- The transaction is then complete, with each bank deciding on how the confirmation is sent to its own customer.
This entire process can happen within seconds if both participants are able to make fast payments!
Which are the Most Secure Transactions?
If you want an alternative to mobile payments, Prepaid Financial Services have a number of different options for a security-conscious business or consumer. This includes business services, gift cards, and virtual prepaid cards. These are incredibly secure as you can pre-load it with any amount and it allows fast and secure online payments. Plus, they can be used on any website that accepts Mastercard.
If you or your business would like to keep tighter control of your finances and monitor closely what’s coming in and out of your accounts, faster payments could be a beneficial service for you – allowing you to see any activity on your bank account within seconds.
