Abacus Daily Debt News

Speed of payments ‘has improved’

The amount of times it takes for cheque and electronic bank payments to be processed has become faster, it has been stated.

However, there is still room for improvement in this area, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has noted.

It comes after the OFT published a review of the Payments Council, outlining how the body is performing in ensuring transactions are working well for businesses and consumers.

The research found that processes have been sped up, with some customers being able to make payments within hours rather than days.

But the OFT reported that enhancements can still be made, as the Faster Payments Service is only operating at a capacity of 69 per cent across its member banks.

"More work is needed to sharpen the Council’s focus on the flexibility and efficiency of its systems and to make sure benefits are passed on to the end user," commented OFT spokesperson Cavendish Elithorn.

The Payments Council welcomed the review, saying that it will work to implement improvements.

By Jamie Price