Societe Generale Joins the UK BACS Payment System as a Direct Participant
Wholesale customers may now benefit from enhancement to its sterling domestic payment capabilities.
Additionally an improved UK payments and cash management proposition with enhanced cut-off timing and service request response times is now in place.
The Bacs Payment System (Bacs) is an electronic transfer service used to make payments between accounts. One of the most popular payment methods in the UK, Bacs payments typically fall into two categories: Direct Debit and Direct Credit.
The service is used by millions of individuals, businesses, and charities across the UK, by a range of high street banks, building societies, challenger banks and other fintechs and payment service providers (PSPs) that connect safely and securely either directly, or indirectly, to Bacs.
Over 160 billion transactions have been debited or credited to British bank accounts via Bacs since its inception in 1968. In 2024 alone, the payment system facilitated 6.81 billion payments, at a value of £5.8 trillion.
John Sacco, Head of Global Transaction Banking in Societe Generale, London Branch, said:
"This milestone further demonstrates Societe Generale’s commitment to the UK market and strategic importance of our transaction banking franchise to the Group.
Globally, we continue to invest heavily in our payments and cash management proposition for our customers in continental Europe and the UK. Following early adoption of Confirmation of Payee and recent deployment of enhanced anti-fraud systems, Bacs Direct Participation also underlines our increasing significance to international and domestic customers operating in the UK.”
David Morris, Chief Operating Officer, Pay.UK said: “We are pleased to welcome Societe Generale as a direct participant into the Bacs payment system. It is great to see an indirect Bacs user of many years leverage the benefits of joining as a directly connected settling Participant, which include greater control, increased resilience and more choice in how they support their customers.
Through our infrastructure and services, we enable billions of pounds of payments, safely and securely, every single day. Access to the UK’s interbank retail payment systems is vital for Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to offer the services their end users need. At Pay.UK, we are consistently looking to improve our payment systems for the benefit of end users. Societe Generale becoming a direct participant is a clear example of our commitment to meet customer needs for the benefit of the UK as a whole."