A staggering 103 million payments were processed in just one day at the end of July by Bacs Payment Schemes Limited (Bacs), the organisation behind Direct Debit in the UK.

Figures published by Bacs included 91 million Direct Debits and 12 million Bacs Direct Credits and surpasses the previous daily high of 99.3 million transactions, set in February 2015. These record breaking figures were reached on 31 July - the equivalent of 6.65 million payments an hour, or 111,000 every single minute.

The aforementioned Bacs statistics certainly suggest that cutting-edge payment solutions are now being used more frequently and First Capital Cashflow predict this trend to carry on over the coming years…

Direct Debits has become one the most popular payment methods in the UK, with 8 out of 10 adults having at least one Direct Debit and around 71% of household bills paid this way.

The boost could be attributable to the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency’s (DVLA) launch of Direct Debit as a payment method for vehicle tax in October 2014. Thus far, around 8 million UK motorists have opted to pay their tax by monthly Direct Debit; a finding which further highlights the continued popularity of Direct Debit as a means of managing household income and spreading costs.

The recent proposals to update legislation in the Trade Union Bill, which will see members fees being collected by Direct Debit oppose to automatically being taken from their salaries, will no doubt further increase Direct Debit awareness and uptake.

References:

http://www.bacs.co.uk/Bacs/DocumentLibrary/PR_New_record_as_Bacs_processes_over_100_million_payments_in_a_single_day_for_first_time.pdf
https://www.finextra.com/news/announcement.aspx?pressreleaseid=60713