The U.K.’s Faster Payments Scheme has another participant. BFC Bank, a challenger bank with plans to launch later this year, recently announced it had joined the payments network, according to a press release published Monday (Jan. 29). The move was made to support small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with their domestic payments needs, the financial institution (FI) said.
“Our participation in the Faster Payments Scheme is a crucial milestone as we prepare for a full launch in the U.K. this spring,” said David Price, the bank’s CEO, in a statement. “We are a bank that is committed to [serving SMBs] and [payment service providers (PSPs)] and [increasing] their competitiveness. Our clients are incredibly innovative and require access to services that enable them to remain agile and build scale easily. As a direct participant in the Faster Payments Scheme, our clients can make payments at the touch of a button to reach their destinations faster.”
BFC Bank is the twenty-first bank to join Faster Payments, which facilitates accelerated payments on a 24/7 basis. The FI uses U.K.-based payment systems company Vocalink’s PayPort service to link into the scheme for its customers.
“Access to real-time payments systems is a hygiene factor for payment innovators,” Vocalink CEO Paul Stoddart added in another statement. “We welcome BFC Bank as a customer. Our PayPort service offers simple and secure access to Faster Payments for BFC Bank. As a managed, end-to-end service, PayPort reduces the complexity and cost of implementation. This allows BFC Bank to provide its clients with a low-risk, fast and efficient service, available at any time.”
Last March, another FI, ClearBank, similarly announced its entrance into the Faster Payments scheme ahead of its own launch. The U.K. has embraced an influx of challenger banks coming to market, especially those designed to service SMBs that struggle to gain the appropriate, affordable services they need from High Street banks.