Platinum Jubilee celebrations: businesses urged to plan payments ahead of the extended bank holiday

Businesses scheduling important payments must consider the extended bank holiday marking the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee; Pay.UK, which runs the Bacs Direct Credit and Direct Debit payment systems, is reminding organisations to take the extra non-processing days into account when planning payment runs.

Both Thursday 2 and Friday 3 June are bank holidays this year - meaning that payments will not be processed on those days – so businesses will need to factor these into their scheduling.

For example, if funds are due to arrive before 2 June, then the latest date payment files can be submitted is Monday 30 May. Similarly, if payments are to arrive on the first working day after the bank holiday, Monday 6 June, then the latest date for inputting files is Tuesday 31 May.

To help with forward planning, businesses are reminded that payment files can be submitted up to 30 days in advance; for easy reference, Pay.UK has produced a useful 2022 processing calendar, listing all the non-processing dates for the rest of the year.

As the special celebration approaches, Pay.UK has also created some useful bank holiday payment processing tips:

• Make sure you download our handy processing calendar and share with colleagues who may benefit from a quick reference guide
• Plan ahead and where possible submit files early – remember that you can do this up to 30 days in advance
• Check that files have been submitted with the correct processing dates, taking into account additional bank holidays, and ensure your software reflects Bacs non-processing days
• Consider asking another member of staff to help in reviewing submission dates
• As many workplaces are still operating with staff based remotely, now might be a good time to review if all those who may need to submit payment files have the equipment and access they require
• Remember that you can get more information from bacs.co.uk and www.wearepay.uk.