You have a maximum payment limit amount that’s been agreed with the bank. This is the total value of Bacs payments you can make, calculated on a two day rolling basis. The ‘Check your remaining limit’ tool on the All payments screen works out the amount of your limit you have left to pay on any payment date you choose.

Why you have a limit

Your maximum limit amount helps manage risk for your company and the bank, in case payments are made which are outside your company’s expected activity.

Your limit is for your entire company. So if more than one area in your company uses Autopay Online, you must ensure you collectively operate within this limit.

What happens if you go over your limit

If you go over your limit, Autopay Online will warn you, and you will be able to proceed. However, there is a risk that the bank will reject your payment.

Your limit should be enough to accommodate the total value of payments over any two days in a year, including peak times.

If you don’t think your limit is enough, please contact your Relationship Manger.

How your remaining limit is calculated

Your ‘remaining limit’ takes into account the value all the payments you’ve already made that affect your selected payment date.

A payment date is the date you want the beneficiary to receive their money. When you select a payment
date using the tool, your remaining limit tells you how much money you can pay on that day, while staying within your limit.

The Check your remaining limit tool does all the sums for you and tells you what’s left of your limit each day. You just need to pick a payment date you want your payment to reach the beneficiary and you’ll be able to see what’s left of your limit.

An example of how it works in detail

Bacs payments take three UK working days to complete:

Your ‘remaining limit’ amount is aligned to this cycle. To stay within your limit you must have less than your limit on Day 1 and Day 2 of the Bacs cycle each day.

As an example, say you have a maximum limit amount of £100,000 and you submit a payment file of £40,000 on Monday to be paid to a supplier on Wednesday. The example below shows how your payment affects your limit as it moves through the 3-day Bacs cycle.

Another scenario is that you might have more than one payment file affecting your maximum limit
amount. These two files could be at different stages of the 3-day Bacs cycle at different times.

Imagine, you have a maximum limit amount of £100,000 and you submit a payment file of £40,000 on Monday to be paid to a supplier on Wednesday. On Tuesday, you submit a payroll payment file of £70,000 to be paid to employees on Thursday. The example below shows how your payment files affect your limit as they move through the 3-day Bacs cycle.