About UK Payments

The UK Payments website is a one-stop shop for information on making a payment in the UK; links to the specific groups in the industry; and membership information for payment industry membership bodies and schemes.

UK Payments Administration Ltd is not itself a membership body but the service company providing people, facilities and expertise to the UK payments industry.

We employ over 150 people, and have payments specialists that are recognised and consulted by organisations across the world.  Our expertise covers a whole range of payment types and areas including: banking regulation on wholesale and retail payments, cash, cash machines, CHAPS payments, cheques, chip and PIN, credit cards, cross-border payments, debit cards, Direct Debits, e-invoicing, Faster Payments, financial fraud prevention, authoritative market research on how payments are used, mobile payments, online banking, regulatory developments in consumer credit, security, SEPA advice and standing orders.  Across these areas people are involved in a variety of specialist work that ranges from policy and public affairs to statistics and standards.

We have managed the development and launches of major innovations in payments, such as chip and PIN and Faster Payments, but we also make sure that money continues to move around the economy smoothly every day of the year. We manage the systems behind UK payments, and in 2008 those systems processed:

• 82.8 million Faster Payments;
• 5.6 billion Bacs Direct Credits and Direct Debits;
• 35.8 million CHAPS payments; and
• 1.1 billion cheques and credits.
  

with a combined value of £88.1 trillion – nearly four times the value of the whole world economy. So, it is unsurprising that we have gained a reputation among our customers for integrity, efficiency and security.

UK Payments Customers

The payments industry has different players and separate industry groups.  UK Payments Administration supplies services to a wide range of companies and brands which are recognised externally and have individual responsibilities. These include:

• Bacs;
• CHAPS;
• Cheque and Credit Clearing Company;
• Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU);
• Faster Payments;
• Financial Fraud Action UK;
• Payments Council;
• The UK Cards Association; and
• SWIFT UK.