2013 saw Bacs Payment Schemes Limited, the company behind Direct Debit in the UK, process its 100 billionth transaction in the summer – that’s almost as many payments passing through its systems as there are people who’ve ever walked the earth.
Records tumbled and milestones were passed as automated payments showed they’re still a huge hit with businesses and consumers alike, 45 years after they were first introduced.
And in November, a new record was set for the number of transactions processed in a single day – 98 million items with a value of £26 billion. That’s a staggering 6.5 million transactions every hour, or 108,000 each minute.
Direct Debit continued to grow, topping 3.5 billion across the course of the year, with a total value of £1.1 trillion. With Bacs Direct Credit payments, that made for a combined 5.7 billion items processed in 2013, worth almost £4.2 trillion.
The Payments Council also reported in 2013 that the money paid out by consumers via Direct Debit had outstripped cash payments for the first time in 2012 – the Payments Council’s UK Payments Statistics report* showed that Direct Debit payments reached more than £290 billion in 2012 compared with £267 billion in hard cash.
Bacs managing director, Michael Chambers, said: “These new figures show that automated payments are as important as ever to UK businesses and households. Direct Debit continues to grow, even with the new payment options now available, and Bacs Direct Credit is still the payment method of choice for employers, pension providers and for benefit payments.”
Record breaking year for Bacs – 100 billionth transaction processed and New record set for number of transactions processed in single day
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