If you are going to delay a major financial sector initiative then six months is probably the minimum delay that makes sense. Anything shorter does not give institutions time to react, and anything much longer would undermine confidence that it will be delivered. The revised target live date of May 2008 for the Faster Payments Scheme follows this perceived wisdom - the original target was November 2007. It was designed to give the banks the additional breathing space they need to resolve the additional complexity and testing issues they encountered, but does it offer an opportunity to make additional innovations.

From the discussions I have been party to with banks and others on this topic, many are viewing it as a blip, a hiccup in the grand plan ... a bit more time. Some, like Northern Rock as a prime example, have other worries that are slightly more pressing. Some view it as simply an expensive compliance type requirement to be able to make float free payments as mandated by the OFT, but not something they will actively promote.  

However, with just a few short months to go before the new scheme is due to go live, we are seeing demand slowly increasing again for our FP training. This could either be an indication that some institutions feel they are still not fully up to speed with the potential consequences of what could be the most significant change in UK payments for many decades, or could it be that there are some institutions keen to discover how they can make the most of the opportunities it can provide. So what do you think - will Faster Payments be a competitive opportunity or an expensive sideshow?