‘Global payments issue’ hits transfers [Video]

A “global payments issue” delayed some high-value and time-sensitive payments, including house purchases, for several hours yesterday before being resolved, writes David Connett.

“We are pleased to confirm that the third-party supplier has restored service following earlier issues, and Chaps payments are settling as normal,” the Bank of England said.

Earlier, legal and property firms said delays of up to four hours were occurring before third-party contractors working for the Bank were able to restore services.

The Bank said Chaps payments were settling as normal and it hoped all outstanding payments would be settled rapidly.

The Clearing House Automated Payment System (Chaps) processes more than £300bn of transactions per day, including banks paying one another large sums.

When delays first occurred, the central bank said it was “mindful of the impact this is likely to have” and was working with other organisations to resolve the issue urgently.

“Retail payment systems are unaffected so people and …