Faster Payment participation
If you are considering joining the Faster Payment System to provide real-time payments to your customers or service users, there are a number of different ways to connect.
These are outlined in this section, while we would also recommend you refer to the Faster Payment service principles document which provides a useful overview of the onboarding process for all three of the access options listed below, the payment types that are supported, as well as other elements such as settlement arrangements.
Directly connected settling participants
Connected directly into the Faster Payment System central infrastructure, directly connected settling participants set their own transaction limits and perform their own settlement with the Bank of England. This is often the best option for organisations that handle a high volume of payments, and are eligible to open a settlement account at the Bank of England.
Directly connected non-settling participants
Connected directly into the Faster Payment System central infrastructure via a sponsoring participant that performs Bank of England settlement on the payment service provider’s (PSP) behalf. This is often the best option for organisations that are not eligible to open a settlement account at the Bank of England.
Indirect payment service provider (PSP)
This option enables a PSP to connect to the Faster Payment System via a sponsoring participant which manages the direct connection on its behalf. Sponsoring participants provide various options to send and receive Faster Payments, and also perform Bank of England Settlement on the indirect PSP’s behalf. This option is beneficial for PSPs that find a direct connection is not commercially viable.
If you are interested in discussing how to get access to the Faster Payment System, please contact the onboarding team at access@wearepay.uk.