Making payments from business accounts

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 branch before *4pm, or 5pm via Business Internet Banking (BIB).
*Subject to branch opening times.

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 or update.

Need a bit of extra help? Watch our demo video: How to make CHAPS payments on Business Internet Banking Link opens in a new window

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

Check out our Standard charges.

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

SWIFT is an easy way to pay in a foreign currency or send pounds outside the UK. And using our Business Internet Banking is the simplest and cheapest way for you to make a payment.

To make a payment, you need a Virgin Money current account or a linked foreign currency account.

If you’re sending euros and it’s not urgent, you can also make next business day SEPA payments. These are cheaper than SWIFT payments.

Ways to make SWIFT payments

1. Use Business Internet Banking (BIB)

The quickest, simplest and cheapest way to make a SWIFT payment is using BIB.

If you’re already set up to make international payments in BIB, you can send SWIFT payments up to your agreed transaction limit.

If you’re not, it’s easy to get set up to make international payments.

You can find out more in our international payments video guide Link opens in a new window.

If you don’t use BIB yet, you’ll need to register.

2. Use an international payment form

You can send SWIFT payments using our international outward payment form Link opens in a new window.

Download the form, then complete and sign it. Then take it to a branch or upload the international outward payment form Link opens in a new window .

What you need to make a SWIFT payment

For each person or business you want to pay, you need their:

• full name
• address
• bank account number (you may also need their IBAN)
• bank name
• bank address
• bank code (SWIFT BIC, National Clearing Code, or Bank Identifier Code)

You also need to give a reason for the payment. For example, a description of what you’re buying with an invoice number.

Always check your payment details

It’s important to check all the details before you complete your payment. Any errors might mean the payment is rejected. If this happens, you might get less money returned to your account, depending on any bank charges or exchange rate changes.

SWIFT transaction charges

There are fixed transaction charges for SWIFT payments:

• BIB = £17.50
• International outward payment form = £25

When you make your payment, you can choose who pays the charges. You have 3 options:

1. You pay all the charges (OUR)
2. The payee pays all the charges (BEN)
3. You pay our charges, and the payee pays their bank’s charges (SHA)

Other charges

Sometimes the payee’s bank, or an agent bank, applies charges beyond our control. These can be charged either to you or the payee, depending on the charge clause.

You can find out more about charges in our business international tariff Link opens in a new window.

And if you use BIB, you can check our online services tariff for business customers Link opens in a new window.

Foreign exchange rates

An exchange rate applies when you make a payment in a foreign currency.

When you set up a BIB payment, you first get an indicative exchange rate. You then get your actual rate when you confirm the payment. This is because market rates change all the time.

For payments in branch or by upload, we’ll provide the actual exchange rate before we process your payment.

Foreign exchange rate margins

Our standard foreign exchange rate is based on the wholesale market exchange rate, minus our margin. The margin varies depending on the size of your transaction.

Our foreign exchange margins

So, if the wholesale market exchange rate for pounds to euros was £1 to €1.2000 and you needed to make a payment of €300, your actual exchange rate would be 2.50% less at €1.1700.

But if you needed to make a payment of €300,000, your exchange rate for the payment would be 0.95% less at €1.1886.

Competitor rates

Foreign exchange costs vary across providers, and some might offer better rates than ours. So you might pay more with us than with them.

Example SWIFT transaction costs

Imagine you want to make a payment of £100 to a business in Spain.

You could make the payment using BIB or our international outward payment form.

Either way your payee would get the same amount of €117. This is because our margin and your exchange rate are based on the transaction amount, not how you make the payment.

But it would be cheaper for you to use BIB because the transaction charge is less: £17.50 instead of £25.

BIB and form example SWIFT costs

SWIFT payments sent in pounds

In most cases, bank accounts are held in the country’s currency: for example, Australian dollar accounts in Australia. If you send pounds to an Australian bank account, the receiving bank has to change the payment into Australian dollars to pay it into your payee’s account. So, you won’t know the exchange rate or the amount the payee gets.

An alternative option would be to send an Australian dollar SWIFT payment. We’d then tell you the exchange rate used.

Sometimes the payee’s overseas account may be in pounds. If this is the case, you should send pounds.

How fast are SWIFT payments?

A SWIFT payment is made on the earliest available business date if you submit it, or get it approved, by the currency cut-off time. This is subject to UK and international holidays.

SWIFT payment cut-off times

Please note that we only offer SWIFT payments in the currencies shown.

Contact us

If you use BIB, you can get help via live chat. We’re here Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm, and on Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 2pm.

Or you can phone us Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. Call 0800 756 0800, option 2.

Changing or cancelling a payment

We can’t guarantee we’ll be able change or cancel a payment after you’ve sent it. And if we can, you may lose money if the exchange rate has changed.

If you do want to change or cancel a payment, phone our Payment Helpdesk on 0800 077 8018.

International payments – SEPA

SEPA is a great way to make euro payments. And using our Business Internet Banking is the simplest and cheapest way for you to make a payment. SEPA payments are also cheaper than SWIFT payments.

SEPA credit transfers are next-day payments. So your payee should get the funds the day after you initiate the payment. This is subject to cut-off times and bank holidays.

With SEPA you can send euros in the Single Euro Payments Area Link opens in a new window. This covers the European Economic Area Link opens in a new window, as well as Albania, Andorra, Montenegro, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican City and the UK.

To make a payment, you need a Virgin Money current account or a linked foreign currency account.

Ways to make SEPA payments

1. Use Business Internet Banking (BIB)

The quickest, simplest and cheapest way to make a SEPA payment is using BIB.

If you’re already set up to make international payments in BIB, you can send SEPA payments up to your agreed transaction limit.

If you’re not, it’s easy to get set up to make international payments.

When you set up a payment, make sure you untick the urgent payment checkbox. If you don’t, it will be sent as a SWIFT payment, which is more expensive.

You can find out more in our international payments video guide Link opens in a new window.

If you don’t use BIB yet, you’ll need to register.

2. Use a SEPA payment form

You can send SEPA payments using our SEPA form Link opens in a new window.

Download the form, then complete and sign it. Then take it to a branch or upload the SEPA form Link opens in a new window .

What you need to make a SEPA payment

For each person or business you want to pay, you need their:

• full name
• address
• IBAN

You also need to give a reason for the payment. For example, a description of what you’re buying with an invoice number.

Always check your payment details

It’s important to check all the details before you complete your payment. Any errors might mean the payment is rejected. If this happens, you might get less money returned to your account, depending on any bank charges or exchange rate changes.

SEPA transaction charges

There are fixed transaction charges for SEPA payments:

• BIB = £15
• SEPA form = £20

SEPA payments are processed as shared charges (SHA). So, you pay our charges, and the payee pays their bank’s charges.

Other charges

Sometimes the payee’s bank, or an agent bank, applies charges beyond our control. These can be charged either to you or the payee.

You can find out more about charges in our business international tariff Link opens in a new window.

And if you use BIB, you can check our online services tariff for business customers Link opens in a new window.

Foreign exchange rates

An exchange rate applies when you make a payment in a foreign currency.

When you set up a BIB payment, you first get an indicative exchange rate. You then get your actual rate when you confirm the payment. This is because market rates change all the time.

For payments in branch or by upload, we’ll provide the actual exchange rate before we process your payment.

Foreign exchange rate margins

Our standard foreign exchange rate is based on the wholesale market exchange rate, minus our margin. The margin varies depending on the size of your transaction.

Our foreign exchange margins

So, if the wholesale market exchange rate for pounds to euros was £1 to €1.2000 and you needed to make a payment of £300, your actual exchange rate would be 2.50% less at €1.1700.

But if you needed to make a payment of £300,000, your exchange rate for the payment would be 0.95% less at €1.1886.

Competitor rates

Foreign exchange costs vary across providers, and some might offer better rates than ours. So you might pay more with us than with them.

Example SEPA transaction costs

Imagine you want to make a payment of £100 to a business in Spain.

You could make the payment using BIB or our SEPA form.

Either way your payee would get the same amount of €117. This is because our margin and your exchange rate are based on the transaction amount, not how you make the payment.

But it would be cheaper for you to use BIB because the transaction charge is less: £15 instead of £20.

BIB and form example SEPA costs

How fast are SEPA payments?

SEPA credit transfers are next-day payments. So your payee should get the funds the day after you initiate the payment. This is subject to cut-off times and bank holidays.

SEPA payment cut-off times

Contact us

If you use BIB, you can get help via live chat. We’re here Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm, and on Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 2pm.

Or you can phone us Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. Call 0800 756 0800, option 2.

Changing or cancelling a payment

We can’t guarantee we’ll be able change or cancel a payment after you’ve sent it. And if we can, you may lose money if the exchange rate has changed.

If you do want to change or cancel a payment, phone our Payment Helpdesk on 0800 077 8018.

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