GoCardless helps Bacs break new records

Bacs broke new records recently when it processed the staggering figure of 109.3 million payments in just one day. The figure, achieved in September, overtakes the previous daily high of 103.7 million transactions, recorded in April, and represented an increase of 5.4%.

Thanks to this achievement, Bacs already looks set to overtake the figures it set in 2015, when over 6 billion transactions were processed for the first time, reaching a value of £4.6 trillion. That included an impressive 3.9 billion Direct Debits, an increase of 239 million compared to the previous year. Bacs (short for Bacs Payment Schemes Limited) is the organisation behind Direct Debit, the popular UK payment system.

Direct Debit has played a key role in enabling the success of Bacs, with its continuing popularity in the UK certain to have boosted the organisation’s growth. Latest figures show that 9 out of 10 adults in the UK have at least one active Direct Debit and pay around 73% of their household bills using this payment method.

The success of Bacs and Direct Debit spells good news for the cutting-edge payments solutions that are now supporting them, such as the Direct Debit payment system offered by GoCardless. As the UK’s number one Direct Debit provider, it’s interesting to consider where we fit into this.

We’re not only simplifying Direct Debit for businesses large and small, but we’re also supporting the growth of Bacs as we go. In fact, between April and September 2016, we increased our volume of Direct Debit transactions processed by 36% - contributing to the overall 5.4% that Bacs managed to achieve. Pretty impressive, if we do say so ourselves!

Direct Debit has been around for many years. In fact, it’s the UK’s favourite payment method with its usage continuing to grow. Direct Debit has gained such a strong reputation in part because customers are protected by the reliable Direct Debit Guarantee. Direct Debit is also very simple to set up - with money is taken automatically from your account on the specified day. There’s no need to update your details, unlike when using credit and debit cards.

Bacs CEO Michael Chambers sees the great results of Bacs and Direct Debit as a vote of confidence in “simple, reliable and convenient solutions for users”, which form an integral part of the UK’s financial infrastructure.

At GoCardless, we’re playing our part in supporting the UK’s innovative payments environment, while also helping Direct Debit to grow and flourish. In particular, we’ve opened up access to Direct Debit for many small businesses that couldn’t use it before. At the same time, we’re offering customers such as Vax a new way for their customers to pay - in convenient instalments.

The future looks bright for Direct Debit, which has consistently proven its worth as a reliable, safe and convenient payment method.