VocaLink

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VocaLink is a UK based payment systems company formed in 2007 from the merger of Voca and LINK. It designs, builds and operates the UK payments infrastructure that underpins the provision of the Bacs payment system, the direct debit system, the UK ATM LINK switching platform for 65,000 ATMs and the UK Faster Payments systems.

VocaLink processes over 90% of UK salaries, more than 70% of household bills and 98% of government benefits. In 2013 the company processed over 10.5 billion UK payments valued at over £ 5 trillion. In July 2016, Mastercard acquired a 92% stake in the company, with the remainder being held by UK banks for a period of three years.

background

In 1968 the Inter-Bank Computer Bureau was set up by the Joint Stock Banks Clearing Committee, chaired by Dennis Gladwell, to modernize the existing paper-based stand systems. Secure electronic money transfer between banks was introduced from this year, significantly reducing both the processing time and human errors associated with paper-based transactions, especially when making bulk payments. In 1971 the company adopted the name Bankers Automated Clearing Services Limited, which was soon shortened to Bacs, which in turn was officially adopted as the company name in 1985.

Cruickshank report

In November 1998, HM Treasury commissioned a review of competition within the UK banking sector to be led by Sir Don Cruickshank . Reporting in March 2000, The Cruickshank Report of Competition within the UK Banking Sector recommended:

  • Clearance scheme ownership and management should be divided into infrastructure operation and delivery
  • Infrastructure management should be done on a commercial basis with fair and open access to third parties
  • A need for an inexpensive way to transfer money quickly

In response to this, Bacs Payment Schemes Ltd (BPSL) was spun off from Bacs Limited on December 1, 2003. BPSL was founded as a non-profit organization with members from the banking industry, the purpose of which is to promote the use of automated payment systems and to manage the rules of the Bacs system. Bacs Limited owns the infrastructure to operate the Bacs system. Bacs Limited was allowed to use the Bacs name for one year and became Voca Limited on October 12, 2004.

LINK (ATM network)

LINK (ATM Network) was established in 1985 to provide interoperability between ATMs in the UK. It became an international network in the 1990s by connecting to the Mastercard and Visa networks. In October 2002, LINK launched the first service that used ATMs as a retail channel, opening up the possibility of topping up a mobile phone at an ATM and bringing banks and mobile phones together for the consumer.

Faster Payments Service

In 2005, a joint proposal from Voca and LINK was selected to provide the payment processing infrastructure for the Faster Payments Service, a near real-time interbank transfer for internet and telephone banks. Following a strong partnership that merged Voca bulk processing with LINK's real-time payment intermediary, the companies agreed to merge on July 2, 2007 to form VocaLink. Since its launch in 2008, VocaLink has processed over 3 billion real-time payment transactions.

UK payments infrastructure

VocaLink operates its services from two UK based data centers : Harrogate and Dunstable .

Bacs

Bacs offers two payment products to consumers:

  • Bacs Direct Credits, client-initiated interbank transfer. VocaLink processes 2 billion payments annually, including over 90% of all UK salaries and 98% of government benefits.
  • Direct debits, debits initiated by authorized employees. Three quarters of UK adults have at least one authorization; The average person has at least six.

VocaLink provides the underlying BacsTEL IP infrastructure for Bacs, which processes over 5.6 billion clearing and processing of automated payments per year with a value of 4.2 trillion euros.

LINK

VocaLink provides the switching infrastructure behind LINK, the world's busiest ATM switching system, which switches over 3.5 billion card-initiated transactions from 130 million activated cards annually.

Faster Payments Service

VocaLink designed, built and operates the infrastructure for the Faster Payments Service on behalf of the Faster Payments Scheme. In parallel with Bacs and CHAPS, which started in 2008, it enables real-time interbank transfers. Since 2008, VocaLink has securely processed over three billion Faster Payments transactions.

Mobile payments

Paym

VocaLink provides the underlying technology for Paym, a UK mobile payments system developed by the Payments Council. The recipients are identified by their mobile phone number instead of bank details such as B. ZIP code and account number identified. It was launched through participating banks and building societies in April 2014 and once users join it will support 9 out of 10 UK bank accounts by the end of 2014.

Zapp

VocaLink developed Zapp, a feature found in mobile banking apps, to enable users to make real-time payments to retailers when shopping online or in-store. The service will be open to all financial institutions, merchants, acquirers and consumers when it launches in 2015. A Zapp payment works through secure digital "tokens", which means that customers do not reveal any of their financial details to retailers. This also means that merchants don't have to save card details. Zapp was developed by VocaLink who operates the UK payments infrastructure. VocaLink processes over 90% of UK salaries, more than 70% of household bills and 98% of government benefits. In 2013, VocaLink processed over 10 billion transactions valued at over 5 trillion euros. Zapp is supported by four UK high street banks, which means that 18m consumer accounts are potentially drawable: HSBC , Nationwide Building Society , Metro Bank, Banco Santander .

International payment infrastructure

On July 12, 2010, LINK opened all British ATMs to the similar German Girocard system of the Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft through the Euro Alliance of Payment Schemes . The VocaLink agreement with the Pulse network Discover Card and Diners Club also allows international cardholders to use LINK ATMs. VocaLink also offers a gateway service for Visa , Mastercard and China Union Pay. Between 2007 and 2012 VocaLink operated a SEPA clearing and settlement mechanism, participating as a member of the European Automated Clearing House Association. The service was discontinued due to low participation.

In May 2008 VocaLink signed a contract with the Swedish Automated Clearing House Bankgirot to outsource part of the Swedish payment system. This was the first time that the settlement of a national payment system was transferred to a non-domestic player.

In March 2014, VocaLink partnered with BCS Information Systems to launch an instant payment service, Fast and Secure Transfers (FAST), in Singapore, allowing fourteen Singapore banks to offer real-time transferring funds between bank accounts.

Wage level index

The VocaLink Take Home Pay Index tracks wage levels in the UK on a monthly basis. Compiled from data collected by VocaLink from over two hundred FTSE 350 companies and six hundred public sector organizations, the indices are broken down into broad sector groups: Manufacturing; Services; Public sector; FTSE 350.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ VocaLink Partners with BCSIS to Offer Immediate Payments in Singapore . In: P Newswire UK , October 29, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2017. 
  2. ↑ MasterCard swoops for Britain's ATM operator Vocalink . In: BBC News , July 21, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2017. 
  3. ^ Bac's Corporate History . Bacs. Archived from the original on December 26, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 14, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bacs.co.uk
  4. ^ The Cruickshank Report . June 1, 2014.
  5. ^ The Cruickshank report: Competition in the banking industry under scrutiny . Practical Law Company. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  6. ↑ Bacs . Bacs. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  7. ↑ Top Up and Go . Top up and go. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  8. ↑ Kevin Peachey: How fast is faster payment plan? . In: news.bbc.co.uk/ , May 22, 2008. Retrieved May 16, 2017. 
  9. ↑ Late payments debt high enough to put UK SMEs out of business . In: www.sourcewire.com , September 28, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2017. 
  10. ↑ Voca flicks the switch SOA - Voca has overhauled its IT architecture in preparation for pan-European payments. . www.information-age.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  11. ↑ Vanessa Zainzinger: Late payments debt high enough to put UK SMEs out of business . Real business. September 28, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  12. ↑ Paym overview . Payments Council. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  13. ↑ Payments via mobile number to start this month , BBC News. April 2, 2014. 
  14. ↑ ANNUAL SUMMARY OF PAYMENT STATISTICS 2016 . Payments Council. Retrieved on May 16, 2017.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.paymentsuk.org.uk  
  15. ↑ Jill Papworth: PAYM promises mobile-to-mobile current account payments . In: The Guardian , March 10, 2014. 
  16. ↑ Leo Kelion: UK lenders to offer Zapp payments in banking apps . BBC News. January 15, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  17. ↑ DINERS CLUB INTERNATIONAL CARDS GAIN ACCESS TO THE LINK ATM NETWORK . Retrieved May 16, 2017. 
  18. ↑ UK pay rises at record low, says Vocalink . In: BBC , March 10, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2017.