Making payments

Faster Payments

As a Virgin Money customer you are able to receive and send Faster Payments into and from your account. This allows quick internet, mobile, telephone and Standing Order payments between your account and other banks and building societies.

Payments will only be processed through the Faster Payments Service if both the bank / building society sending and receiving the payment are participants of the scheme.

Payments can normally be made 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Please note, this service may be temporarily unavailable during periods of routine maintenance.

Payments will normally be transferred immediately.

Payments can be made via internet banking, mobile and telephone banking within our transaction limits. However, each bank or building society has its own limits for Faster Payments which can vary from time to time.

If you need to make a payment over the limit, or if you need to guarantee same day payment, you should consider using CHAPS (fee applicable, please contact your store or relationship manager).

For more information and to check whether the bank or building society you are sending money to can receive Faster Payments visit Pay.UK Link opens in a new window.

CHAPS

With Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS) payments, you can send and receive sterling payments on a guaranteed, same-day basis for requests made at any store before *4pm, or 5pm via Business Internet Banking (BIB).
*Subject to store opening times which you can check here.

The easiest and cheapest way to send payments is via BIB. If you’re not set up for BIB or haven't set up CHAPS payments on BIB before, you can register/update here.

Need a bit of extra help? Watch our demo video on ‘How to make CHAPS payments on Business Internet Banking’ here

Once CHAPS funds are cleared, they can’t be recalled.

Standard charges can be found here.

Bacs

Bacs offers two ways to help you manage payments better – Direct Debit and Bacs Direct Credit.

With Direct Debit, you can collect payments from another bank or building society account. With Bacs Direct Credit, you can make payments by electronic transfer, such as regular payments to suppliers or employees’ salaries. Both options are subject to status. You’ll also need to have a business current account.

Direct Debit

What is it?

Direct Debit is the safest and most cost-effective way of receiving regular or occasional payments from your customers, such as monthly membership fees.

How does it help my organisation?

• Guaranteed payment – you decide what date payments come into your account
• Better cashflow – you get cleared funds into your account on a known date
• Flexible – you can collect payments on a schedule that suits you, whether that’s monthly, yearly, or something else

How does it help my customers?

• Simple and convenient – once a Direct Debit is set up there’s nothing more to do
• Supports budgeting - your customers can spread the cost of goods and services. They can also choose the day they make a payment which can help with their cashflow
• Offers peace of mind – your customers won’t miss any bill payments or have penalty payments for late or forgotten bills
• The Direct Debit Guarantee – if a payment error is made, they will receive a full refund from participating banks

Bacs Direct Credit

What is it?

Bacs Direct Credit is used for all types of business payments, most commonly for paying salaries and invoices.

Pensions, expenses, insurance settlements and dividends are examples of other areas where Bacs Direct Credit is the most cost-effective option.

How does it help my organisation?

• Saves time and administration costs – creating and authorising a payment file is simple and inexpensive
• Improved cashflow management - choose when funds will leave your account
• Direct cost savings - reduce costs for collection, delivery and storage of cash
• Makes accounting easier – only a single debit leaves your account on a specified date, so there’s no need to track individual payments
• Better payment terms - negotiate more favourable terms by paying more efficiently

Important information

There are charges for using the Direct Debit and Bacs Direct Credit facilities.

To explore the charges, visit the Business Banking Tariff Guide.

Terms and conditions

To see the terms for both Bacs facilities, including the IdenTrust documents, visit the terms and conditions page.

Ready to get started?

If you’d like to apply for Bacs facilities, call us on 0800 032 3971. We’re here Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

For further information, visit the Bacs website.

International payments (SWIFT)

You can make international payments with SWIFT from Virgin Money and SWIFT transfer can be instructed at any store. Fees apply.

Payments are given specific value dates i.e. same-day, next day or “spot” value which is typically 2 business days ahead.

Value Dates are used in International banking because currencies fluctuate in value every day, so your payment would be worth more or less by the time it is received by the beneficiary. Using the Value Date eliminates these discrepancies so you know that the amount you send is the amount that will be received.

Please note, for a same day payment you must visit the store before 10.30am.

Our Standard Foreign Exchange Rate

When you send an International payment in a different currency from your current account, a foreign exchange rate will be applied. Our standard foreign exchange rate is based on the market exchange rate, plus or minus a currency conversion cost which is detailed in the table below.

The percentages outlined above are indicative, for information only and can change at any time. For example:

Transaction Amount - EUR 20,000 (from GBP Account) Market Exchange Rate - 1.1050 Conversion cost on foreign exchange rate - 2.50%

Our Standard Foreign Exchange Rate - 1.0774 (1.1050 – 2.5%)Payment Fees - £25Total cost to you - £18,588.21 (EUR 20,000 @ 1.0774 = £18,563.21 plus £25)

Please be aware that because SWIFT/SEPA payments are linked to foreign exchange and currency rates, there is exposure to exchange rate risk which may or may not benefit the customer.

International payments (SEPA)

The single euro payments area (SEPA) harmonises the way cashless euro payments are made across the EU. It also applies to payments in euros in other EEA countries: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino.

What is SEPA?

The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is an initiative developed within the European Union (EU) which seeks to create an integrated market for electronic payments in Euro. It aims to remove the distinction between national and cross-border payments and introduce a common set of payment standards and rules so that payments in Euro can flow quickly and efficiently throughout the EU.

SEPA payments enable customers to make payments in Euro to recipients within the SEPA geographical area Link opens in a new window.

Making a SEPA Credit Transfer

SEPA Credit Transfers are Next Day payments. This means that the beneficiary will receive the funds the day after the payment has been initiated, subject to cut off times and bank holidays. The pricing of SEPA Credit Transfers takes this into account. If you need to send a payment in Euros immediately, you can use our SWIFT service.

When making a single initiated SEPA Credit Transfer and you will only need to provide the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) of the account into which you wish to make the payment.

Please note for a next day SEPA payment you must visit a store before 11am.

Our SEPA form can be found in our useful downloads section. Please complete this electronically before coming into store.

Charges for using SEPA

There is a fee for each SEPA payment. Intermediary bank charges may also apply.

Charges can be found in the Business Banking Tariff Guide. Speak to your Relationship Manager for more details.

After Brexit, with our help, you can still send payments to the European Economic Area (EEA) and SEPA area Link opens in a new window. The UK is now outside of the EEA so receiving banks may now apply or deduct fees from the people you pay. You may wish to contact them to take this into consideration before making your payment.

Please be aware that because SWIFT/SEPA payments are linked to foreign exchange and currency rates, there is exposure to exchange rate risk which may or may not benefit the customer.

Personalised cheques for your business

If you’d like to have your company logo printed on your cheques, many businesses choose to have special cheques produced. This adds a professional and personal touch rather than use the standardised bank cheques provided by Virgin Money.

There are many cheque book printers out there but we recommend that our customers use our preferred supplier of special cheques, TALL Security Print Ltd.

TALL Security Print Ltd are recognised as a leading cheque book and credit book printing provider within the industry and are accredited by the Cheque & Credit Clearing Company Ltd.

By choosing to use TALL Security Print Ltd for their special cheque printing requirements, our customers can be assured of a premium, personalised service with cheque and credit books produced to the standards required to comply with UK clearing regulations both now and in the future.

Cheques will be produced utilising all the latest security features and tailored to suit your requirements. Please visit the website using the link below for more information.

Tall Security Print Ltd – Virgin Money Special Cheque Credit Service Link opens in a new window