CHAPS vs faster payments

[niggtv]

Hi, I'm buying a car next Wednesday - it's a cash private sale for £45k. I'm with Co-operative Bank and their faster payments limit is £100k. I've already called them in advance, and they've said "usually instant, but may be delayed up to 6pm the following day". I'll be phoning them up rather than doing it online, and can deal with a couple of hours delay, but not a 24+ hours delay, as I have a 300 mile journey to complete.

They've suggested CHAPS @ £25. Is CHAPS the same system as faster payments? I'm just trying to decide if it's worth paying the £25....it's not much in the context of the payment, but I'd still rather not pay it if I don't need to!

Thanks in advance.

[Speedy300]

At work I transfer these size funds all the time and they always turn up with in half an hour max, normally straight away.

As long as the bank is informed (ie it's not stopped due to fraud etc) then I would expect to be in the other bank by the time you/other person logs into the bank.

Unfortunately there is always the exception to the rule but worth taking the risk...

[richatnort]

I know some banks it takes longer because it's a new PAYEE. Could you not set the guy up as a new PAYEE with Co-OP and send him like £1 and then that might get the delay bit out of the way then send them the money on the day and might make it instant then?

[niggtv]

Thanks both - and good tip re sending a small amount now.

[Ozzie Osmond]

I sent a large £k payment by Faster Payment and although it "arrived" within the 2 hours it remained showing "uncleared" on the receiving account until the following day.

CHAPS gives certainty of same day cleared funds and may be worth the £25 in your situation.

[deckster]

Put it the other way. Do you want to take the risk of a £45k deal falling apart for the sake of £25?

[walm]

richatnort said:

I know some banks it takes longer because it's a new PAYEE. Could you not set the guy up as a new PAYEE with Co-OP and send him like £1 and then that might get the delay bit out of the way then send them the money on the day and might make it instant then?

This is good advice.
I tried to make a faster payment at 7pm once and they stopped it because it was a new payee and they couldn't do the appropriate "fraud checks" after 6pm or some BS (despite no mention on the website of such potential hurdles).

[Behemoth]

I had the same dilemma in the summer. Even bank to same bank group I chose CHAPS. Not worth the worry, exactly how many litres of petrol is the saving going to get you? Even with CHAPS, it was a headache as I was in the middle of nowhere with no mobile signal & the bank insisted they call me back on a "known phone". I ended up driving out with the vendor to find a hill

[onedsla]

A £1 payment followed by larger amount is logical. It's also logical to fraudsters, and will likely be marked as suspicious by your bank, leading to delays.

[akadk]

CHAPS, whilst same day, is not instant, and can take up to 6pm

FASTER PAYMENTS, well the clue is in the name, its instant in majority of cases, or 2hrs max - unless held.