How to Make a Payment Through Bacs?

Bacs payments are a secure electronic method of making low-value, high-volume, non-urgent electronic payments directly from one bank account to another. If you're new to the Bacs payment scheme and you're wondering how to make a payment through Bacs, Interbacs is here to talk you through 'How do I make a payment through Bacs?'

Since it was founded in 1968, Bacs has firmly established itself as the industry standard payment solution for businesses nationwide. If you're a start-up or small business, the world of Bacs may seem foreign to you at the outset. But it is actually quite simple and straightforward once you know the inner machinations of how it all works, let's dive in.

How to I Make a Payment Through Bacs?

We should begin by mentioning that there are two main Bacs payment methods. The first, and best known, of those is a Bacs Direct Debit.

Direct Debits allow you to take (with permission!) money from another party's bank account on a regular date. The second, less well-known, method is Direct Credit. Direct Credits enable you to pay or deposit money into a recipient’s account and are widely used for payroll purposes.

Bacs Direct Debits

Direct Debit is a safe, efficient and cost-effective method of taking payments from your customers. It is an excellent way of collecting recurring payments that don't necessarily need to be paid on the same day. Around 90% of the UK population uses Direct Debit to pay at least one regular bill and it is estimated that around 4.7 billion annual payments will be made by Direct Debit by 2028.

To collect Direct Debit payments you submit your payment data (including the amount of each payment, account numbers, sort codes and dates) through specialised Bacs approved software, a Bacs Approved Bureau or a Facilities Management Provider. The data is sorted into payments to each bank or building society and transmitted to each institution. This data is downloaded to their systems, debited from the customers' accounts and credited to yours. In 2023, there were 100,811 business-to-business direct debit collections.

Bacs Direct Credits

Bacs Direct Credits are a safe and secure method for UK businesses to make payments to the bank accounts or building societies of others. More than two billion Bacs Direct Credit payments are made every year. It is by far the most popular method of paying salaries, pensions, state benefits and tax credits in this country. In fact, around 80% of the UK workforce are paid their wages using Bacs Direct Credits.

To make Bacs Direct Credit payments you submit your payment data (including the amount of each payment, account numbers, sort codes and dates) through specialised Bacs approved software, a Bacs Approved Bureau or a Facilities Management Provider. The data is sorted into payments to each bank or building society and then transmitted to each institution. This data is downloaded to their systems, applied to the customers' accounts and debited from yours.

Make Bacs Payments With Interbacs

Interbacs offers superior Direct Debit solutions that can boost your cash flow, give you a competitive edge, and encourage customer loyalty. We offer convenient and cost-effective Bacs Approved Bureau services to larger businesses with a Bacs Service User Number (SUN).

Discover more about how to get a Bacs Service User Number on our recent blog here.

We also provide first-class Facilities Management services to small and medium-sized enterprises that don’t meet the criteria to qualify for a SUN.

If you're looking for a way to streamline your direct debit payments from a committed organisation that prioritises secure service, check out our Bacs-approved software Interpay today.