MPI Europe Ltd and partners, RT IT Consulting and RCS, have today announced the full launch of their UK Faster Payments website.
The Faster Payments initiative results from the agreement of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the banking industry (via APACS) to create a new payments capability for the UK by the end of 2007. For standing orders, internet banking transfers and telephone transfers of funds between banks, the transaction will be near real time. Currently, there is a 3-day delay between the initiation of the payment and the recipient getting the funds for these inter-bank transfers.
The website is a business information resource for banks who are involved in this strategic initiative. Through our project work in this area, we understand that significant time and effort is being spent by the people in major banks who run these programmes explaining the basic concepts and answering frequently asked questions from the internal bank staff. This is particularly time consuming due to the many business functions that this initiative touches – i.e. not just payments but also credit, IT etc. The website also has the secondary purpose of promoting awareness of Faster Payments in the wider market place. Our website is designed to address this area by providing a comprehensive overview and Frequently Asked Questions about the Faster Payments initiative.
"During our initial pre-launch period in June, many well known banks visited the site and look set to be regular visitors. We have received a lot of positive feedback and several suggestions for additional and changed content which we have now applied." said John Cant, MPI Europe’s Managing Director. "In particular, we are pleased by the strong interest in the web site content relating to cross bank business implications. UK Faster Payments is not simply a matter of updating a banks payment gateway, but also has impacts across the board including credit, AML and fraud."
The site is sponsored by Intel, as part of their commitment to innovation in financial markets. "Payments is undergoing significant change" said Nigel Woodward, Global Manager for Financial Services, Intel, "due to a combination of factors, the convergence of corporate EDI and financial STP innovation, regulatory change such as UKFP and SEPA, and also due to emerging technologies such as mobile that enable initiation of the payment earlier in the supply chain. To take advantage of these moves, participants need informed and unbiased information and this new site helps to provide this for UKFP."