Faster Payments and Raphaels Bank recognised for Industry Achievement of the Year

Raphaels Bank and the Faster Payments Scheme have kicked off 2017 with a joint award in recognition of the successful project to become the first new participant of the UK’s 24/7 real-time payment service.  The payments innovators received the Industry Achievement Award at the prestigious Card and Payments Awards last night (2 February 2017), in front of 1,200 industry peers at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

The award was presented in recognition of the ground-breaking work to open up access to Faster Payments, with Raphaels Bank joining in August 2016 to become the first new participant since the Scheme’s inception in 2008. Raphaels joined using the innovative New Access Model, acting as a sponsor to other payment service providers (PSPs) and enabling them to access true, 24/7 real-time payments via its connection. One of the first businesses Raphaels Bank worked with to deliver the benefits of this new initiative was TransferWise, enabling it to provide its customers with real-time transactions.

The Industry Achievement Award is a special award which is presented to the individual, team or organisation judged to have made the most significant contribution to the industry in the last year. The judging panel, made up of a broad spectrum of independent experts, commented: “The direct membership of Faster Payments is the happening of the year, driving a leading payments system unrivalled anywhere in the world.”  Raphaels Bank has been at the forefront of supporting the payments sector for more than a decade, and their latest award success follows a number of wins in 2016.

Janet Johnston, Head of Raphaels Bank Payment Services, said:

“We have a clear commitment to giving PSPs the ability to add value to their services through a wide range of payment solutions. And this latest award win is great recognition of that commitment.

“By opening up the Faster Payment Scheme for PSPs through a new direct access model, we are breaking new ground.  We have ambitious plans to expand our Faster Payments Scheme direct membership through sponsorships during 2017 with a number of other innovative launches, further demonstrating our ongoing commitment to collaboration with innovative and exciting fintech players.”

Craig Tillotson, Chief Executive of Faster Payments said:

“The Faster Payments New Access Model has been at the leading edge of the efforts in the UK to drive competition by opening up access to payment systems and we are delighted to be recognised with this award. Raphaels Bank have been at the vanguard of this important work, blazing the trail that has since been followed by three more challengers that have joined our world-leading service over the last few months, with many more in the pipeline in the year ahead.”