Who is the APACS and What Do They Mean to You?

September 25th, 2008 by admin | Filed under APACS, Money Management, UK Bank Accounts, UK Credit Cards.

The APACS is responsible for bank clearing in Britain. It is this institution that ensures that when you deposit a cheque into your account, the money will be moved from the cheque’s account to yours.

Who is the APACS?

The APACS is a trade association in the UK that represents 31 members and 97% of the total UK payments market. This organization forecasts payment trends, completes market research, and lobbies on behalf of the industry. It is this association’s self-proclaimed mission to ensure that the “UK payments industry operates to the highest international standards and that payments are safe, reliable, and resilient”.

How long does a cheque clearing take

Given the amount of information that must be processed, this is a very quick system. Especially when we consider the care that must be paid to ensure that the right accounts are debited and credited. Here is a brief outline of how the process works.

Day 1 - You deposit a cheque into your bank account. That same day, your bank will process the account and the cheque’s details will be registered at its home bank.

Day 2 - Your bank will deliver the cheque to an APACS exchange centre and the cheques home bank will come retrieve it.

Day 3 – The cheque’s home bank will remove the paid amount from the account (if enough is there) and pay that amount to your bank. If there is not enough money to pay the cheque’s value then the cheque will bounce.

Day 4 - The cheque will clear your account, meaning that your bank has received the money on your behalf.

Bouncing Cheques

This system has been designed to ensure that the bank can actually collect the money for you. Although it is estimated that 99% of cheques that are written do clear, the 1% of bounced cheques does add up. In fact, some estimates suggest that there are tens of thousands of bounced cheques every day in Britain’s banking system.

Internet Accounts

Internet accounts are able to share information at a much more rapid pace, not having to rely on the physical transfer of paper information. For this reason, internet and phone transactions are often quicker to clear, meaning that you receive confirmation of your payments and deposits quicker.