Criteria for membership

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 Voca (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 hiher 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.