Faster Payments May Date - opportunity or sideshow?

Although Faster Payments began as an OFT-led initiative, it is increasingly clear that banks view the service as a market opportunity. Member banks see the new near-real-time channel as a chance to improve customer service and gain a competitive advantage. Indeed, this view is also spreading rapidly amongst non-member financial institutions, such as the agency banks, which are already assessing the best method to gain access to the near-real-time channel so that they can remain on a par with the bigger banks. Banks are increasingly aware that they must build customer confidence in their products and services if they are to overcome the general consumer disquiet that has been building over recent months. If a bank was not to offer the Faster Payments service, the repercussions of retaining the three-day float or making customers choose a costly CHAPS transaction could be disastrous for its credibility and perception in the market. Implemented with the correct security processes in place to cope with near-real-time transaction processing, Faster Payments is an opportunity to offer a customer-centric service that will help banks to draw and retain customers in 2008.

I almost totally agree with Roberts initial comment that although UKFP started as a regulatory driven programme, banks now view the service as a market opportunity. The one important difference is that I would add the caveat that it is "some banks now view the service as a market opportunity". Try this simple test to see the different approaches. Go to the member banks website/home page (list of member banks) and simply type in "Faster Payments" into their search function. Different banks will give you very different results - you can then draw your own conclusions as to who sees it as an opportunity!