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 Services 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.