Heritage
Discover our heritage
Scroll down the page to view a timeline showing the long and rich history of our products and services.
1659
Date of the earliest known surviving English cheque
1717
Bank of England introduced printed cheques
1833
First Bankers Clearing House built in Lombard Street, London
1856
The first Scottish Clearing House founded in Glasgow
1968
Interbank Computer Bureau set up (later to be called Bacs)
1970
Direct Debit launched
1985
Cheque & Credit Clearing Company established
1985
UK Payments Administration Limited founded
1990
The Direct Debit Guarantee introduced
1996
Scottish cheque clearing came under the responsibility of Cheque & Credit Clearing Company
1996
Banks begin to exchange electronic data as well as paper via the Inter-Bank Data Exchange (IBDE)
2006
Bacstel-IP internet based service introduced, replacing the Bacstel telephone dial-up service
2007
Belfast Bankers' Clearing Company established
27 May 2008
Faster Payment Service introduced
2009
Faster Payment Service Direct Corporate access service introduced
1 Oct 2012
Cash ISA Transfer Service launched
Sept 2013
Current Account Switch Service launched
2013
Industry Sort Code Directory launched
April 2014
Paym launched
1 April 2015
Payment Service Regulator set up
1 Nov 2017
The Bulk Payment Redirection Service is launched
May 2017
New PKI Trust Service launched, operated by UTSP Limited
1 Sept 2017
New Payment System Operator (NPSO) established
18 Oct 2017
NPSO rebrands as Pay.UK
30 Oct 2017
The cheque Image Clearing System goes live
1 May 2018
Bacs and Faster Payments become subsidiaries of Pay.UK
1 July 2018
Cheque and Credit Clearing Company and UK Payments Administration Limited become subsidiaries of Pay.UK
Oct 2019
Image Clearing System (ICS) launched and paper clearing system closed.
June 2020
Confirmation of Payee (CoP) launched.
2020
Request to Pay framework launched
March 2023
Paym service closure
