Payment movers and shakers

Issue 349 | 24 June 2022

In this edition of the Payments:Unpacked Tracker¹ we see the impact on the volume and value of payments processed in the UK following the removal of Covid restrictions, compared now with similar conditions in the equivalent months in 2021 as we emerged from Lockdown 3.0.

---

Movers and shakers

The public perception of the term ‘movers and shakers’ began after the first performance of Sir Edward Elgar's popular choral work The Music Makers, at the Birmingham Festival in October 1912. The work is a setting of Arthur O'Shaughnessy's 1874 poem 'Ode', from his Music and Moonlight collection.

In that poem, which singles out poets and musicians as the bards that guide lay thinking, O'Shaughnessy coined the phrase 'movers and shakers'.

In this monthly payments statistics round up it is clear that Faster Payments remains the key payment rails ‘mover and shaker’!

---

---

Faster Payments

In the 12 months to the end of May 2022 we see that:

• Single Immediate Payment volumes have increased by 20% (12 months to April 19%)

• Total Faster Payment volumes have increased by 19% (12 months to April 19%)

• Single Immediate Payment values have increased by 24% (12 months to April 24%)

• Total Faster Payment values have increased by 24% (12 months to April 23%)

The trend has continued in May with both volumes and values significantly ahead of 2021 levels. May 2022 saw an increase of 33% in the volume of Single Immediate Payments processed in the month compared to 2021 and 41% in the value of Single Immediate Payments.

The widespread use of Faster Payments is a digital payment habit that will be here to stay, reinforced throughout each lockdown and with volumes and values continuing to increase month on month. Although the trajectory has flattened a little particularly when similar conditions have been in place, an overall significant increase year on year looks set to continue for some while to come – particularly with inflationary pressures also having an impact on the value of payments processed.

---

Cheques

In the 12 months to the end of May 2022 we see that:

• Cheque volumes have decreased by 14% (12 months to April 14%).

• Cheque values have decreased by 4% (12 months to April 3%).

Volumes processed by the Image Clearing System in May were 4% lower than during May 2021 but values had increased by 2%. Although volumes are falling as many have undoubtedly switched to digital payment options, there is clearly still an underlying level of usage which continues to be seen in this method of payment.

With volumes of digital payments continuing to increase, the share of legacy payments within the total continues to fall. For the twelve months to May 2021 the volume of Cheque payments accounted for 1.7% of the total (for Bacs/CHAPS/Faster payments and Image Clearing System) falling to 1.4% for the 12 months to May 2022. For the month of May itself the percentage had fallen further to 1.2%

---

Bacs Direct Debit and Direct Credit

In the 12 months to the end of May 2022 we see that:

• Bacs Direct Credit volumes have increased by 1% (12 months to April decreased by 1%)

• Bacs Direct Debit volumes have increased by 4% (12 months to April increased by 3%)

• Total Bacs volumes have increased by 3% (12 months to April increased by 2%)

• Bacs Direct Credit values have increased by 4% (12 months to April increased by 4%)

• Bacs Direct Debit values have increased by 8% (12 months to April increased by 9%)

• Total Bacs values have increased by 5% (12 months to April increased by 5%)