What is the difference between BACS, CHAPS and Faster Payments?

They are three UK payment systems with different speeds, costs and purposes — and knowing which is being used explains why some payments arrive instantly and others take days.

Faster Payments. Launched in 2008, this is the system behind most everyday transfers. Payments typically arrive within seconds, and the service runs 24 hours a day, every day including weekends and bank holidays. It is normally free for personal customers.

Limits apply and vary by bank — commonly tens of thousands of pounds per transaction or per day, with lower limits on new payees or in-app transfers.

Used for: standard bank transfers, standing orders, and most person-to-person payments.

BACS. The older batch system, dating to 1968. It works on a three working day cycle — submission, processing, settlement — which is why salaries paid on a Friday are submitted on Wednesday.

It is cheap at volume, which is why it handles bulk recurring payments: Direct Debits, salaries, pensions and benefits. It does not run at weekends or on bank holidays, which is why a Direct Debit due on a Saturday is taken on the next working day.

CHAPS. A same-day, high-value system settling individual payments in real time through the Bank of England. Payments are irrevocable once made and arrive the same working day if submitted before the cut-off.

It carries a fee, often £20–£40, and operates only on working days during banking hours.

Used for: property purchases — the completion funds on a house move almost always move by CHAPS — and other large, time-critical transfers where certainty matters more than cost.

Why this matters practically: a transfer that has not arrived may simply be on a slower rail; irrevocability makes CHAPS a fraud target; and APP fraud reimbursement rules apply to Faster Payments and CHAPS.

Card payments use entirely separate networks.