The Bank of London, the leading-edge technology company and the world's first purpose-built global clearing, agency, and transaction bank, today announces it has become a Directly Connected Settling Participant (DCSP) of the Faster Payment System, the UK's 24*7 real-time payments infrastructure.

The Faster Payment System is a 24h, 365 days per year service, supporting the demands of the UK's economy. The service enables real-time payments for millions of individuals, businesses and charities across the UK. In 2021 alone, the Faster Payments System processed 3.4 billion payments (an increase of 20% from 2020), with a value of £2.6 trillion (an increase of 24% from 2020).

The Bank of London and Pay.UK (the operator of the Faster Payment System) are committed to levelling the playing field for access, promote competition and ensure the full real-time service is available to as many end users as possible. Since its inception in 2008, the Faster Payment System has been joined by a number of other DCSP's, several non-bank Payment Service Providers, and hundreds more who access the system indirectly through a sponsor bank, such as The Bank of London.

Felipe Hillard, Chief Customer & Product Officer, UK of The Bank of London, said: The Bank of London's goal is to be the preeminent banking partner for institutions with cross-border needs, and to leverage our unique patented technologies to become a global leader in banking-and-compliance-as-a-service - powering our clients and partners to drive the next wave of financial innovation. Formally joining the Faster Payment System as a DCSP is one of the many critical milestones that will power our vision of embedding open access, removing inefficiencies, and driving choice and competition in a market that for far too long has been poorly served by the heritage incumbents".

Dougie Belmore, Chief Payments Officer of Pay.UK, said:
"It's great news that The Bank of London has joined the Faster Payment System, giving their customers access to our world-class 24/7 real-time payments system. At Pay.UK we are continually looking to improve our payment systems for the benefit of end users, and The Bank of London joining is a clear example of our commitment to meet customer needs for the benefit of the UK as a whole."