Nationwide Faster Payments slippage

ShelfStacker_3

BarclaysManager wrote: »

Absolute rubbish: we have over 100 sort codes; I really don't care to count how many. Across however many accounts, we have 20 million people banking with us, many of whom have more than one account. We managed to get all of them live on one specific date.

And yes, they've had the knowledge long enough that they could have implemented this better.

We've got over 1k sort codes. Somehow, our payment processing infrastructure has not yet fallen apart under the strain of FPS.

rb10

EarthBoy wrote: »

However, Nationwide haven't been using 07-01-16 exclusively because there are a few FlexAccounts with the sort code 07-44-56. A friend of mine has that code and I remember querying it with Nationwide one day when I had to make a payment into his account. Nationwide told me that both sort codes would actually work for the same account, but they tended to prefer 07-01-16 and discouraged the use of 07-44-56. So, I made the payment into his account using the sort code 07-01-16 (even though it showed 07-44-56 on his card) and he still received the payment almost immediately.

The 07-44-56 sort code is for accounts that have cashcards only, whereas once you get a debit card it'll switch to 07-01-16. But they clearly have unique numbering across the two, as the account will just switch form one sort code to another- I got confused when my new debit card had a different sort code to my old cheque book (but had the same account number).

Extant

ShelfStacker wrote: »

We've got over 1k sort codes. Somehow, our payment processing infrastructure has not yet fallen apart under the strain of FPS.

I'm too lazy to go count all the pages in a Clearing Directory.

But, still, we can't expect too much of Nationwide. They are from Swindon, after all.

Extant

olly300 wrote: »

What month and year did Barclays go live with faster payments for all account holders?

May 27, 2008.

On that date, all of our 20- sort codes (all our personal and business account customers) went live on FPS for sending and receiving.

Agency banks on 23- sort codes have been live since July 2008, and Woolwich Mortgages and Barclaycard accounts on 23- sort codes went live in September.

Academic

Hi BM,

Can I ask you a question ? Do you know when Barclays is going to change their FPS policy with regard to the £250 limit on SO's, etc. (see excerpt below from Barclays FPS FAQ) ? I have a couple of £500 SO's that still take 3 days to reach their destination (another bank that does accept FP's), I know I could bin the SO's and send the money online and it would go via FPS but I would be interested to know when the "gradual increase" will commence. Thanks.

Q14. Are standing orders, future dated payments and Direct Debits covered by the Faster Payments Service?
Standing orders and future-dated payments are currently being sent through faster payments up to the value of £250. This will be gradually increased to send standing orders up to the maximum scheme limit of £100,000 and future-dated payments to the full scheme limit of £10,000.

rb10

BarclaysManager wrote: »

May 27, 2008.

On that date, all of our 20- sort codes (all our personal and business account customers) went live on FPS for sending and receiving.

Agency banks on 23- sort codes have been live since July 2008, and Woolwich Mortgages and Barclaycard accounts on 23- sort codes went live in September.

Academic wrote: »

Q14. Are standing orders, future dated payments and Direct Debits covered by the Faster Payments Service?
Standing orders and future-dated payments are currently being sent through faster payments up to the value of £250. This will be gradually increased to send standing orders up to the maximum scheme limit of £100,000 and future-dated payments to the full scheme limit of £10,000.

This is how marketing people make themselves sound better than they are. "All of our 20- sort codes went live for sending and receiving", neglecting to mention that there are still major flaws in the system.

Academic

I don't consider the Barclays phased implementation of the FPS with regard to SOs & DDs to be a "major flaw in the system". Barclays were up front about this and it can be worked around by making an online payment which will go immediately via FPS. I've had no problems using FPS via Barclays.

However, I would like to know when they are going to raise (or remove) this limit and make the FPS implementation fully functional.

Nationwider

rb10 wrote: »

The 07-44-56 sort code is for accounts that have cashcards only, whereas once you get a debit card it'll switch to 07-01-16. But they clearly have unique numbering across the two, as the account will just switch form one sort code to another- I got confused when my new debit card had a different sort code to my old cheque book (but had the same account number).

And 070030 is for savings accounts. 070246 replaces the old 070116.

zx2011

BBC Money Box 8 March 2008
Q&A: Faster clearing times

Apacs, the UK's payment association, has said the banking industry will introduce a new faster payments clearing service on 27 May 2008.

From that date customers will be able to make one-off same day payments over the internet or by telephone.


What will I be able to do on 27 May that I can't do now?


From 27 May customers will be able to make one-off payments, up to maximum value of £10,000, over the telephone or via the internet, that will leave their account and arrive in the destination account on the same day. The system will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, between accounts which belong to the system's thirteen founding members.


How quickly will my money move?
The transfers will not happen instantly; there will still be some delay between the money leaving one account and arriving in another.
However, Apacs says it expects all transactions under the new system will be completed within two hours, with some taking as little as just 30 minutes. At the moment these typically take three to four working days.


What if I have an account with a bank or building society that is not one of the 13 that developed the new system?
It will depend on the bank or building society's own banking arrangements.
Take, for example, a customer who wants to move his money from the Halifax to the Coventry Building Society.
Coventry already has a relationship with one of the major "clearing" banks which means the transfer from Halifax can happen under the new faster system.

22 May 08
How fast is faster payment plan?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_7411000/7411338.stm


Consumers have long been frustrated that it takes three or four days to transfer money from one bank to another.
For example, transferring cash from your current account to your savings account at a different bank would mean the money disappears for a few days. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) once calculated that interest made by the banks when this money fell into the transfer black hole was £30m a year.


Demand for action
In 2005, the OFT said that the system should be made more efficient and 13 banks embarked on an overhaul, which they estimate is costing them £300m. Under the Faster Payments Scheme, customers can make one-off payments up to a maximum value of £10,000 over the telephone or via the internet, which will leave their account and arrive at the destination account on the same day.

The OFT initially demanded that the quicker system start in November 2007, but it was delayed to ensure it worked properly.


The OFT initially demanded that the quicker system start in November 2007, but it was delayed to ensure it worked properly.
In April, Apacs outlined its timetable for the scheme for the first time, saying the faster electronic payments would start on 27 May, with same-day standing orders beginning on 6 June. But the BBC has discovered from the big five banks that while some faster payments will start on the first day, some customers will not see standing orders sped up until early 2009.


Phased start
Many of the banks are expressing caution. While one said it was "well prepared and confident", another said it was protecting customers by avoiding a big bang approach.
RBS NatWest will be starting the scheme in full and in line with the Apacs starting dates, whereas HSBC said standing orders would not come under the faster scheme until the "first half of 2009".
Philip Cullum, acting chief executive of the National Consumer Council (NCC), said that the staggered start was "unfortunate", but the best thing for consumers to avoid a "Terminal 5 moment". "Given we have been waiting for years, if not decades, for the industry to invest in decent systems, if the price of embedding it properly is a delay of a few months, then that is sensible," he said.


Here is the big five High Street banks' timetable for introducing the scheme:

• 27 May - All HSBC transfers up to £20; all RBS NatWest payments; all Lloyds TSB payments for personal customers; all payments received by HBOS customers
• 27 May to 16 July - Barclays transfers will see a steady increase in maximum limits such as £5 on the first day, £100 by 5 June, £2,000 on 9 July and £10,000 by 16 July
• 3 June - HSBC transfers up to £10,000
• 6 June - Standing orders with RBS NatWest and Lloyds TSB
• July to September - Barclaycard joins faster payments
• August - Barclays standing orders
• August/September - HBOS standing orders
• November - HSBC credit cards join scheme
• "Later in the year" - Payments for Lloyds TSB business accounts
• First half of 2009 - HSBC standing orders

29 January 2009
BBC Money Box
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/7848140.stm


Thirteen banks and building societies signed up to a new faster payments system in May 2008, but Money Box has learned that eight months after it was launched the system is in disarray.
While not all of the 13 institutions were offering to make same day payments out, and not all of them were going to be ready from day one, all pledged commitments to be in this position by the end of the year. But following e-mails from our listeners we have found out that some of the banks have not kept their word.

rb10

Some very optimistic reporting there!

Not sure about this bit though...

marcgr wrote: »

Apacs says it expects all transactions under the new system will be completed within two hours, with some taking as little as just 30 minutes.

That implies that the minimum is 30 minutes, whereas all the FPs that I've done (all Halifax <-> Natwest), they've been in the other bank within the time it takes me to log out of one and into the other.