A record 109.3 million payments were processed in just one day last week by Bacs Payment Schemes Limited (Bacs), the organisation behind Direct Debit and Bacs Direct Credit in the UK.
That’s the equivalent of over 7 million payments passing through the Bacs system each hour the processing window was open (15.5 hours), or in excess of 117,000 per minute.
The figure, set on Thursday 29 September, surpasses the previous daily high of 103.7 million transactions recorded earlier this year on 28 April, representing an increase of 5.4 per cent.
The new milestone also follows what was a memorable 2015 for Bacs, a year in which over six billion transactions were processed for the first time, at a value of £4.6 trillion. That total included an impressive 3.9 billion Direct Debits, up by 239 million, or 6.6 per cent, compared to the previous 12 months.
And it is this strong and continuing growth in the use of Direct Debit which has contributed to this latest record. Almost nine out of ten adults in the UK pay at least one regular commitment this way, with around 73 per cent of household bills paid by Direct Debit.
This is in addition to the near 90 per cent of the country’s workforce which receive their salary using Bacs Direct Credit and the almost one billion welfare payments made this way every year.
Bacs CEO, Michael Chambers, said “This new daily record once again underlines the popularity of both Direct Debit and Bacs Direct Credit as payment and collection methods among consumers and businesses.
“At a time when there has never been greater choice in the range of payment methods available, this latest milestone is yet another vote of confidence in our payment products which offer simple, reliable and convenient solutions for users and further confirms the importance of Bacs to the UK financial infrastructure.”