Extended Hours
For RTGS and CHAPS Settlement
For most of its existence, CHAPS - the UK’s high-value same-day settlement system - has been a creature of business hours. A weekday service.
That’s changing. And the pace of change is picking up.
We already knew that earlier morning opening was coming. From September 2027, CHAPS will open at 01:30 rather than 06:00 — a four-and-a-half hour extension that gives participants significantly more runway at the start of each settlement day. That alone is a meaningful shift, driven by the demands of a payments landscape that increasingly doesn’t stop.
But the Bank of England is now proposing to go considerably further.
Weekends Are Coming — Eventually
The central bank is consulting on the introduction of additional settlement days at the weekend. The likely starting point is Sundays, along with certain UK bank holidays. If agreed, this wouldn’t arrive before 2029.
The combined effect of these steps — early opening on weekdays, plus weekend settlement — would bring RTGS to what the Bank is calling 22x6 operation: 22 hours of CHAPS settlement available every day from Sunday through Friday. On Saturdays, participants would be able to conduct liquidity transfers between their own accounts, even if full CHAPS settlement remains off the table.
What the Long-Term Could Look Like
Beyond 2031, the Bank is explicitly seeking views on what a mature near-24x7 model should look like. Two options are on the table: 22x7 or 23.5x7 — both described as potential long-term destinations.
These aren’t idle thought experiments. They represent a fundamental question about what kind of payments infrastructure the UK wants to operate: one that largely follows working hours, or one that mirrors the always-on expectations of the digital economy it serves.
Why This Matters
The shift from a weekday settlement system to something approaching continuous availability is not just an operational upgrade. It’s a structural change in how liquidity moves, how participants manage their positions, and how the UK’s wholesale infrastructure connects to a retail payments world that already operates around the clock.
Faster Payments doesn’t sleep. Increasingly, neither do the treasury functions of major financial institutions. CHAPS running 22 hours a day, six days a week — with the prospect of seven on the horizon — is the wholesale layer starting to catch up.
The consultation is open. The timeline is long. But the Bank’s direction of travel is clear.
The hours of money are expanding.
Payment Infrastructure (NewRPI) — but will it be the phoenix our industry needs? As the journey to a NewRPI commences we’ll be bringing insights, analysis, and conversations on the future of payments infrastructure in the United Kingdom.
Free from corporate or regulatory agendas, who is better placed to lead the discussion on the NewRPI than Mike Chambers — the driving force behind NewBacs, Faster Payments adoption and part of the original NewCHAPS journey.