Types of Payment

UK Payments

The main payment run for all UK payments takes place each Thursday. Invoices received by the Payments Team by 17:00 on Tuesday (or input locally within departments) will be included in the weekly run if they are due for payment. The majority of both supplier and expenses payments are made electronically by BACS electronic funds transfer. This means that funds are transferred directly from the University's bank account into that of the recipient and a payment advice document is produced and sent to the recipient for information only. BACS payments take four working days for the banks to process, so payments made each Thursday will usually appear in the accounts of recipients on the following Wednesday. Payments can also be made by cheque where facilities do not exist for a direct electronic payment.

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Overseas Payment

The University generally makes all payments to suppliers in UK pounds sterling (GBP) except where there are unavoidable operational reasons for a payment to be made in a foreign currency. Foreign currency payments, with the exception of certain US Dollar payments, are usually made weekly on Monday. Invoices received by the Payments Team by 12:00 on Wednesday (or input locally within departments) will be included in the weekly run if they are due for payment. Payment is currently made via the Alliance and Leicester and takes four working days to credit, so payments will usually arrive in a recipient's account on Friday of the week in which the payment is made.

US Dollar (USD) payments made to an address and bank account in the US are paid using dollar cheques drawn against a University dollar bank account held in the US. This is also done on a weekly cycle, with cheques being produced on Wednesday – invoices received by the Payments Team by 12:00 on Wednesday (or input locally within departments) will be included in the weekly run if they are due for payment.

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Urgent/Same Day Payments

Urgent payments can be requested and are made on a daily basis by cheque for those items that must be paid more quickly than the usual weekly cycle allows. Please ensure that if you need an item to be paid via this route that it is clearly marked as 'urgent' and a member of the Payments Team is informed.

Facilities also exist for making same-day payments via the CHAPS system. This ensures payment is made electronically on the same day that an instruction is input, as long as the instruction is processed before 16:00. There is an additional charge which banks levy for this method so it is only available in exceptional circumstances. In order to meet the processing deadline, any instructions for such payments must be provided to the Payments Team no later than 12:00 on the day the payment is to be made.

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Expense Claims

The Payments Team inputs all expense claims into Oracle in accordance with the expenses process.

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Standing Orders and Direct Debits

Facilities exist for making regular payments via standing order or direct debit (e.g. regular bursary payments to students). For more information on making payments via this route, please contact the Payments Manager (University access only).

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Cash Payments

Facilities also exist for making cash cheque payments to individuals who do not have bank accounts. Please alert a member of the Payments Team if you need to use this facility or mark the payment request clearly with a request for 'cash cheque.

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Contact details

For further information, please contact:
Payments Team
Telephone: 01865 - (6) 16016 or (6) 16103
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