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Important information about your CHAPS payment

These Terms, our tariff and the CHAPS Payment Form set out the rights and responsibilities that each of us has regarding our CHAPS service.

Nothing in these Terms affects the agreement governing the operation of your account(s) with us (Account Agreement).

If your Account Agreement is inconsistent with these Terms, these Terms will apply.

1  DEFINITIONS

The following words are used throughout these Terms and have the following meanings:

You or Your means any customer operating an account with us (this includes a sole trader, a partnership, an incorporated company or an unincorporated association such as a club or society). Where you've authorised anyone else to operate the account, 'you' or 'your' refers to any one, both or all of you depending on the context.

We, us or our means The Royal Bank of Scotland plc.

A payee is the person you intend to pay.

A business day means Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays.

CHAPS is the Clearing House Automated Payment System – this service allows you to send same day value payments within the UK.

A payment means the payment you’ve instructed us to send to the payee using our CHAPS service.

The Unique Identifier is the combination of the payee's sort code and account number which you give to us and we then use when your payment instruction is submitted to CHAPS.

 

2  THE PAYMENT PROCESS

We'll treat receipt of your completed CHAPS Payment Form as your consent for us to carry out this payment process on your behalf. Your payment instruction be processed as follows:

 

Process step

Explanation

Step 1: Receipt of your payment instruction

This is the point at which we receive your payment instruction. If we receive your payment instruction:

• before 3.00pm, it'll be processed on the same business day

• after 3.00 pm or on a non business day, it'll be processed at the start of the next business day

• for a future dated payment instruction, this will be the start of the business day that the payment is due to be made.

Step 2: We accept your payment instruction and it's sent to

CHAPS for payment

Once we've carried out the necessary checks and we’re satisfied that you have sufficient funds in your account to allow the payment to made, your payment instruction will be submitted into the CHAPS system.

This will happen either within 90 minutes of Step 1 or 60 minutes of Step 2 depending on which is shorter (unless it is a future dated payment). If you give us your instruction in branch by a CHAPS Payment Form, it may take longer than 90 minutes as your instruction will be faxed to our processing centre.

Step 3: Funds are debited from your account

Your account will be debited on the same business day. You'll notice that your available funds will be reduced by the amount of the payment immediately.

Step 4: The payment is sent to the payee's bank or provider

The payment will then be sent to the payee’s bank or provider for payment and settlement  in accordance with that bank or provider's terms of business. 


The steps above may not happen in the times stated if:

(i) Your payment instruction hasn't been given to us using the CHAPS Payment Form provided by us;

(ii) Your payment instruction doesn't contain the information we need to enable the payment to be made, or it's illegible;

(iii) Your payment instruction isn't signed in accordance with your account mandate;

(iv) You don't have sufficient funds available in your account to allow the payment to be made;

(v) You aren't able to make CHAPS payments from your account;

(vi) We suspect that your instruction may be fraudulent and we need to carry out additional checks;

(vii) We can't process your payment instruction for legal or regulatory reasons.

 

3  CANCELLATION OF PAYMENTS AND ERRORS

In most cases you can't cancel a payment after we've received your payment instruction. In the case of future dated payments, you can cancel a payment by getting in touch with us at least one business day before the payment is due to be processed.

 

4  YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

4.1 You're responsible for the accuracy of the payment instruction you give us. If you don't give us the payee's unique identifier then we may have to refuse your payment instruction.

4.2 You must also give us the correct name for the payee and that name must match the name associated with the Unique Identifier you've also given us. We're responsible for checking the payee's name or any other details.

 

5  PAYMENT DETAILS

5.1 You can provide us with a message to describe the payment of up to a maximum of 70 characters including spaces, (e.g. invoice no 12345). We won't be liable any loss resulting from the message you've provided being reduced by us because you’ve used more than 70 characters.

5.2 You can provide the payee's bank with instructions up to a maximum of 70 characters. We won't be liable for any loss arising from the instructions you've provided being reduced by us because you've used more than 70 characters, or if the payee's bank does not carry out those instructions.

 

6  CHARGES

You'll pay our charges for use of the CHAPS service. Our charges are detailed in our tariff.

 

7  CONFIRMATION

Faxed instructions can only be given where you've completed our Fax Letter of Authority. In the event that confirmations are sent, they must be clearly marked 'Confirmation of fax', otherwise we can’t be held responsible should a payment be duplicated.

 

8  DISPUTES

If you wish to dispute a payment transaction your dispute will be handled in line with the complaints procedure outlined in your Account Agreement.

 

9  GOVERNING LAW

The law that applies to these Terms and the courts that have jurisdiction are outlined in your Account Agreement.