The UK saw a record volume of automated payments in 2014, with 7.3 billion transactions channelled through CHAPS, Bacs Direct Debits and Direct Credits and Faster Payments.

Automated transactions increased by 3.6% in volume in 2014, compared to the previous year, according to UK Automated Payments 2015, a report by Payments UK, the trade association for the growing payments industry. They now account for 38% of all non-cash payments in the UK, with a total value of £5,571 billion - up 7% from the previous year.

The report also found the following:

• Mobile banking is driving the strong growth in Faster Payments, the system that processes virtually every inter-bank mobile and internet banking payment made in the UK. It saw the strongest growth, with 1.1 billion payments processed in 2014 – an increase of 14%.
• Mobile banking overtook telephone banking for the first time in 2014, with 15 million people using the service.
• Internet banking remained the most popular form of remote banking in 2014, however, with 33.3 million users.
• Direct Debits remain the most popular method of automated payment by volume, with 3.7 billion sent in 2014 – an increase of 4%.
• Seven out of ten regular household bills were paid by Direct Debit last year, with utility payments making up 33% of the total volume for household commitments.
• Bacs Direct Credits were primarily used by businesses to pay individuals - 85% of these 2.15 billion payments made in 2014 were for this purpose.
• The CHAPS payment scheme continues to account for the overwhelming share of the value of payments processed in the UK. CHAPS payments worth £68 trillion were made last year - an average of £269 billion per day, accounting for 91% of the total value of payments in the UK in 2014. The volume of CHAPS payments rose by 4.4% to an all-time high of 36.5 million in 2014. CHAPS payments are forecast to be over 50 million by 2024.

The full report is available to members of Payments UK.