Faster Payments

Faster Payments is the UK scheme for domestic GBP payments: near-instant settlement, around the clock, every day of the year.

What Augustus supports

	Today
Direction	Send and receive GBP push payments to/from any UK sort code and account number.
Speed	Near-instant, 24/7, year-round. There are no cut-off times.
Limits	The Faster Payments scheme caps a single payment at £1,000,000 (set by Pay.UK).
Scheduling	Payouts execute immediately; future-dated payments are not supported.

Sending GBP

Save a counterparty with a sort_code financial address, then create a payout with currency: "GBP" and that counterparty_id:

2026-05-01

import Augustus from '@augustusbank/typescript-sdk'

const client = new Augustus()
const counterparty = await client.counterparties.create({
  financial_address: {
    type: 'sort_code',
    sort_code: '040004',
    account_number: '12345678',
    account_holder_name: 'Chris Simon',
  },
})
const payout = await client.payouts.create({
  account_id: 'your-gbp-account-id',
  amount: '100.00',
  currency: 'GBP',
  counterparty_id: counterparty.id,
  unstructured_remittance_information: 'Invoice 1234',
})

POST /v1/counterparties in the API Reference → POST /v1/payouts in the API Reference →

Field	Behavior
`rail`	Optional for GBP; `"faster_payments"` is the only GBP rail supported.
`counterparty_id`	ID of a saved counterparty with a `sort_code` financial address.
`unstructured_remittance_information`	Forwarded to the receiver with the payment. The payment reference shown on the receiver’s bank statement carries up to 18 characters.

Status and lifecycle

GBP payouts move through the standard payout statuses: initiated on creation, submitted when handed to the rail, sent when the payment settles, failed when it is rejected. Faster Payments typically reach sent within seconds.

Receiving GBP

Senders address your account with its sort code and account number, available on the account’s financial_addresses.

Incoming credits appear as deposits with rail: "faster_payments".
deposit.settled fires when the funds arrive.
The sender’s bank details are referenced through the deposit’s counterparty_id.

To send a received credit back, create a return with the deposit ID; see Returns. Under the UK’s authorised push payment fraud rules, the sender’s bank can file a reimbursement claim against a received payment after settlement. Augustus investigates the claim with you before it is decided.

On the 2023-01-01 API

Faster Payments also carries the Pay by Bank products: Instant Bank Transfer payments from UK banks, Manual Bank Transfer deposits, and refunds to UK accounts.

Basics

Accounts

Transactions

Payments

Conversions

Loans

Pay by Bank

What Augustus supports

Sending GBP

Status and lifecycle

Receiving GBP

On the 2023-01-01 API

​What Augustus supports

​Sending GBP

​Status and lifecycle

​Receiving GBP

​On the 2023-01-01 API

What Augustus supports

Sending GBP

Status and lifecycle

Receiving GBP

On the 2023-01-01 API