Can you stop a Bank giro Credit payment?

mountainwiccan

I was under a bit of stress yesterday and went in to my bank (the Co-op ) and made a payment on a bill using the company'sbank giro credit (I have quite a few of these slips so I used one to save me from sending them a cheque they may not get until after Christmas)
I was just checking my online banking and I forgot that I had set to pay them every month on the 22nd so they have got two payments in one month! I'm really upset with myself and I know I cannot stop the online payment from reaching them now, but can I stop the counter payment made to them yesterday afternoon at the bank. Surely it takes a few days for them to get that payment?
Thanks for any advice.

sheff-spud

You cannot stop a Bank Giro Credit. Although it is a piece of paper that physically travels through the clearing system in 3 working days, as it's a credit the bank where you paid in will already have debited the funds from their central clearing account held at the Bank of England at this stage and by the 2nd day of the credit clearing cycle (today) the receiving bank will have had their BoE clearing account credited in order to credit the recipient account on the 3rd day.

If you paid by cheque you could stop that with your bank but I wouldn't advise this as it'll bounce with the company you've paid and so they're likely to charge you an admin fee plus your bank will charge you to stop the cheque.

You mentioned an online payment has gone today (22nd). Check with your bank if it went by faster payment system or BACS. If it went by FP then the transfer is done and not reversible. If however the payment went by BACS today then it can still be stopped up to late afternoon (sometimes early evening before 6pm). So give your bank a call or go to the branch asap today and if it's BACS then it is possible to stop it.