Britain's high-street banks are planning to radically speed up the time it takes for direct debits and standing orders to be transferred between accounts, after intervention by the Office of Fair Trading, reports the Guardian.
An official announcement is apparently being delayed by the general election on May 5 as the OFT would not want to issue statements with political connotations before voters go to the polls. But industry sources told the Guardian the banks were committed to processing automated payments overnight, rather than the three days it now takes to move the money electronically. Chairmen of the "big six" banks - Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland/NatWest, Lloyds TSB, HBOS and Abbey - were asked to take action and a spokesman for APACS says “whereas a year ago it was whether [it would be do...
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