This new 24x7 service will allow banks and corporates to send, receive and track payments in real-time to any UK bank account.

For many corporates and banks, becoming a direct member of the Faster Payments Scheme can be challenging. The implementation costs, payment expertise and restrictive timelines can extend projects into many months and leaves the ongoing compliance burden inside the organisation. To solve this, Bottomline’s Real Time Payments Express offering, powered by Starling’s Banking Services, will supply an API driven real-time payment and settlement service, which provides all the core benefits of the historical access methods to Faster Payments.

“Real-time payments are becoming the new norm around the world. In the UK, where the Faster Payments Scheme has enjoyed over a decade of growth, we have the technology needed to allow more participants to gain the benefit of full access to 24x7 instant payments,” said Julian Sawyer, Head of Banking Services at Starling Bank. “Our new solution partnered with Bottomline delivers exactly this.”

Bottomline is driving payment innovation in the market, helping businesses to develop and scale new real-time services quickly and cost effectively, without the need for long development cycles and complex legal agreements. The Real Time Payments Express Service is available 24x7, is SAAS-based and equipped with full tracking to allow customers to see exactly where their payments have been made and received in the network.

“There is real transformation coming into the U.K. through the New Payments Architecture, Open Banking and PSD2 which gives rise for innovative partnership approaches like our Real Time Payments Express,” said Nigel Savory, Managing Director, Europe, Bottomline Technologies. “We insulate our clients from the ambiguity ahead by plugging them into Bottomline, where we remove the complexity and future-proof the changes ahead for them.”

Bottomline already supports CHAPS, SWIFT, Bacs, Visa B2B Connect, Direct Access Faster Payments, Paym, CASS and various other payment rails through their Universal Aggregator®, which will now offer the new Real Time Payments Express Service.

Starling was the first challenger bank to be a direct member of the Faster Payments Service and the only banking provider of real-time access to Faster Payments through APIs in the transaction banking world. Starling’s pioneering Banking Services offering enables businesses – including Payment Service Providers, retailers, corporations and fintechs – to develop and scale new products and to move money in seconds.