Become a Bacs member
Members of Bacs have a number of roles. They:
- Settle at the Bank of England
- Underwrite the Direct Debit Guarantee
- Guarantee Bacs (Bacs Payment Schemes Limited is a company limited by guarantee)
- Fund Bacs
- Underwrite all risks incurred via Bacs
- Direct Bacs and determine its plans
- Use Bacs to support their customer propositions.
To become a member of Bacs a number of criteria need to be met. Each member of Bacs must:
- Have a settlement account at the Bank of England
- Be based in the European economic area
- Meet agreed technical and operational requirements, including having an agreement in place with VocaLink (or another provider of approved clearing services), and having an approved trust service
- Be a bank or building society
- Have a minimum credit rating of (a) a prime short-term credit rating of A-3 or higher by S&P, F-3 or higher by Fitch and P-3 or higher by Moody's; and (b) an investment grade long-term credit rating of BBB- or higher by S&P, BBB- or higher by Fitch and Baa3 or higher by Moody's
- Sign a legal document in respect of membership, and of the settlement arrangements
- Pay a share of Bacs costs.
Enquiries about membership of Bacs or the membership criteria should be addressed to Michael Chambers, Managing Director of Bacs.