TheFaster Payments systemcan generate new revenue
streams for banks and is not just a tick in the box for bank
compliance, research has revealed.
Two-thirds of banks felt that Faster Payments could deliver new
revenues, according to research carried out by VocaLink, which
built and runs the Faster Payments infrastructure, and
PricewaterhouseCoopers.
But the lessons learnt from its implementation are food for
thought for banks weighed down by inflexible legacy payment
systems.
Mike Banyard, senior payment industry commercialisation manager
at HSBC, said, "As one of the founding members of the service, we
are reaping the benefits of seizing the commercial advantages of
Faster Payments early on. From the outset, far from regarding
Faster Payments as a compliance issue, we have embraced the
real-time technology as a way of introducing new and improved
services to our customers and unlocking new revenue
opportunities."
The research also identified lessons for banks implementing any
real-time payment infrastructures.
"Banks which have
already invested in modern real-time accounting systems will
find it easier to implement and operate Faster Payments than their
counterparts with old legacy and batch-based systems," the report
said. "Those banks with legacy systems will find that real-time
payments provide a much-needed incentive to re-architect their
transaction banking platforms to cope with the demands of the
modern payments world."
It also revealed that banks introducing real-time payments
should consider a charging model for customers from the outset.
The Faster Payments system was created when Apacs, now known as
UK Payments Administration, and UK banks decided to create a
service which could clear payments in a day at the end of 2006.
It
went live as planned in May 2008. It was the first new UK
payment system to be introduced in 20 years. In its first year it
processed
more than 180 million payments totalling more than £70bn.