Speeding up cheque clearing times and online payments

nigel563

Does anyone know what is happening about speeding cheque clearing times and the time it takes an Internet payment from a UK bank current account to reach its recipient? In November 06 the banks - through the Payment Systems Task Force, led by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) - announced that faster times would apply from November 07. Last month I saw my relationship manager at Natwest who told me it was now starting 17 March 08. There is no sign of any change and online banking still says payments take 3 working days. Why is the OFT allowing banks to drag their feet on this? Can anyone explain what is happening and when.
Nigel

gt94sss2

New rules re: cheque clearing came into effect in November 2007.

Faster/Same day transfers for Internet and telephone banking are being introduced on the 27 May 2008

Regards
Sunil

Mikeyorks

nigel563 wrote: »

Last month I saw my relationship manager at Natwest who told me it was now starting 17 March 08.

There is nothing happening on speeding cheque clearing times over and above the 2-4-6 changes introduced last Nov.

At the same time 'faster (electronic) payments' were deferred until at least 'end May 08'. There's an existing thread on that here :-

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=768001

..... I'd be a bit worried your NatWest man has a wholly phantom date. Although - to be fair - it may have been the presumed date NatWest were introducing some internal changes to facilitate the overall change now announced (for the major Banks) from 27th May. But those would be relatively academic until the new 'faster payments' gateway is in place

natweststaffmember

NatWest/RBS are indeed starting faster payments earlier than many institutions and that date maybe when they are beginning that process of putting things onto the faster payments system, I think though that date may have been for payments of £5 or less which will be made as faster payments from april and then slowly building up the faster payments system between RBS/NatWest accounts until it will apply to all of the banks/building societies taking part in the scheme in May 08

thriftymomma

About time too!!