Bank of England increases hours for CHAPS interbank payments
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 24, 2026
1 min readLast updated: February 24, 2026
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 24, 2026
1 min readLast updated: February 24, 2026
From September 2027, the BoE will open CHAPS at 1:30am instead of 6am. Banks can opt in to the early window. Evening settlement is paused as the Bank pursues a path toward near 24/7 operations.
LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The Bank of England said on Tuesday that it plans to move forward the start time for its CHAPS system for high-value interbank payments to 1:30 a.m. from 6:00 a.m. from September 2027 onwards.
The BoE said that participation in the earlier start to settlement times would be optional for banks and that it would not go ahead for now with evening settlement while it works on longer-term proposals for 24-hour-a-day settlement.
(Reporting by David Milliken; editing by Sarah Young)
The Bank of England will bring forward CHAPS settlement to a 1:30am start from September 2027. The early-hours window is optional for banks and forms part of a roadmap toward near 24/7 operations.
The new start time takes effect from September 2027. Participation in the 1:30am–6:00am window is optional for CHAPS direct participants, though incoming payments may still be received.
Not for now. The BoE is prioritizing the earlier start and will consider evening extensions later as it advances longer-term plans for near round-the-clock settlement.
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