How to send a BACS payment?

Troy_af

Hello.


I am due soon to send a large amount of money (house deposit) and I'm told it has to be by a BACS payment. Ive never used this before, in fact I have no idea what it is,


I looked on Santander and it says that direct debits are made using BACS. However, I am also told that I cannot pay using direct debit?


Thanks.

BoGoF

Are you sure it was BACs and not CHAPS?

Troy_af

BoGoF wrote: »

Are you sure it was BACs and not CHAPS?

Definitely BACS.

BoGoF

To the best of my knowledge an individual current account does not have the facility to do a BACS transfer. Are you transferring to solicitor?

p00hsticks

You need to go into your bank (where presumably the money currently is) and ask them to organise it for you. I think most high street banks should be able to do it for you, although I suspect that for personal banking BACS has largely now been superceded by Faster Payments.

Bear in mind that BACS works on a three (working) day cycle so ensure you allow enough time for the payment to be processed.

Troy_af

BoGoF wrote: »

To the best of my knowledge an individual current account does not have the facility to do a BACS transfer. Are you transferring to solicitor?

Yes.



Looks like you are correct. I asked Santander and they said their accounts would only send money via faster payment or CHAPS. My instructions say I can use telegraphic transfer or BACS. What is telegraphic transfer?


Thanks.

adindas

BoGoF wrote: »

Are you sure it was BACs and not CHAPS?

Troy_af wrote: »

Definitely BACS.

This website is explaining the difference between CHAPS, BACS (Direct debit, etc) & Faster Payment.

https://www.barclays.co.uk/help/payments/payment-information/bacs-chaps-faster-payments/

You will need to recheck it again with your solicitor (CHAPS, FP) or BACS (Direct Debit, etc).

It is very unusual to pay a large amount of money by Direct Debit.
As another poster has said the chance is it is a CHAPS (or Faster payment for moderate amount to arrive at the same day).

Zanderman

I would ask your solicitor exactly how to pay it. They are, I assume, the receiving party (if not I'd be worried!) and so they should be able to issue you with information on how to proceed. It shouldn't be left to you to research it on the internet.

tacpot12

Generally all payments made via internet, app or telephone banking are paid by BACS or Faster Payments. CHAPS is the other option, but most banks charge for this as it is a more manual process, so customers cannot generally initiate a CHAPS transfer without talking to someone at the bank.

Chances are the solicitors won't know if it has arrived by BACS or Faster Payments, as their bank account probably won't show them the payment reference that will allow them to see the route the money took, and they won't care. They are probably asking for a BACS payment because they haven't updated their documents to refer to Faster Payments. If you ask them why they want it by BACS, I bet they won't know!

Bearing in mind the amount of fraud in the area of bank payments and the risk of loosing your deposit you need to exercise care.

I would only accept the bank details via telephone or in person. I would send a random amount e.g. £3.18 to the bank details, then call the solicitors to ask them to confirm how much they have received. Only call a number you know to be valid, and only pay the balance when they confirm how much you sent.

Better still; ask if you can go into their offices while you make the payment and check the bank details with them when they arrive, then pay via faster payments. Get them to check the numbers you entered are correct before sending the payment.

adindas

Troy_af wrote: »

Yes.

Looks like you are correct. I asked Santander and they said their accounts would only send money via faster payment or CHAPS. My instructions say I can use telegraphic transfer or BACS. What is telegraphic transfer?

Thanks.

Telegraphic Transfer is used in CHAPS.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/telegraphic-transfer.asp

Just be aware there is a fee for doing CHAPS (not Free). FP is free.

The good chance here is that it is CHAPS or FP (if the amount is not exceeding the FP daily limit)

As another poster has said. For such kind of information and the amount of money involved you should ask your solicitor how exactly to make payment (into his account ?). That is what your solicitor should be telling you and you have paid for it.

You should not be doing a research by your own for this. The danger here is that people or you might be misinterpreting what have been said.

eDicky

Troy_af wrote: »

My instructions say I can use telegraphic transfer or BACS.

From whom and in what form are you receiving these instructions? Beware of bogus emails from fraudsters who hack solicitors' email accounts, confirm details by phone before transfer.