Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS)

CHAPS is an electronic bank-to-bank same-day value payment made within the UK in either sterling or euro. CHAPS is a member of the trade organisation APACS, and the EU-area settlement system TARGET

The main benefit of CHAPS is that it is fast, secure and efficient and the money is transferred the same day. Unlike other forms of payment such as cheques, CHAPS payments are irrevocable.

CHAPS is one of the largest real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems in the world. Banks themselves use CHAPS to move money around the financial system, but it is also used regularly:

• for business-to-business payments;
• by solicitors/licensed conveyancers to transfer the purchase price of a house between the bank accounts of those involved;
• by individuals buying or selling a high-value item, such as a car, who need a secure, urgent, same-day guaranteed payment.