Glossary
A quick reference for the UK payments terms you'll meet across this site.
- FPS (Faster Payments Scheme)
- The UK scheme for near-instant, low-value sterling payments between bank accounts, available around the clock. It underpins most everyday push payments such as standing orders and single immediate transfers.
- Pay.UK
- The operator responsible for the UK's retail interbank payment systems, including Faster Payments. Pay.UK also leads the move to the New Payments Architecture.
- Sort code
- A six-digit number that identifies the bank and branch holding a UK account. Combined with the account number, it routes a payment to the correct institution.
- Account number
- The (usually eight-digit) number identifying a specific account within a bank. Shorter numbers are sometimes padded with leading zeros to reach eight digits.
- Beneficiary
- The party receiving a payment — the account being credited. Many error codes describe a problem with the beneficiary's details or account.
- Remitter
- The party sending a payment — the account being debited. Also referred to as the originator or payer.
- BIC
- Bank Identifier Code (or SWIFT code), an internationally recognised code that identifies a financial institution. It is used mainly for cross-border payments rather than domestic UK transfers.
- IBAN
- International Bank Account Number, a standardised format for identifying an account across borders. UK domestic Faster Payments typically use a sort code and account number instead.
- REJ (reject)
- A payment refused before it is accepted, so no funds move. Rejects happen up front, at the receiving bank or the scheme, before settlement. Browse reject codes on the codes page.
- RET (return)
- A payment sent back after it has been accepted and settled. Returns are post-acceptance, typically because the receiving account cannot keep the credit. Browse return codes on the codes page.
- Confirmation of Payee (CoP)
- A name-checking service that verifies whether the beneficiary name matches the name on the destination account before a payment is sent. It helps reduce misdirected payments and certain types of fraud, and is linked to name-mismatch codes such as 1162.
- New Payments Architecture (NPA)
- The UK's programme to modernise its retail interbank payments infrastructure, led by Pay.UK. It adopts the ISO 20022 messaging standard for richer, structured payment data. See where codes are heading on the future codes page.
- ISO 20022
- A global standard for electronic financial messaging that carries richer, structured data than older formats. UK payments are gradually adopting it, including a standardised set of external return reason codes — see the future codes page.
- Settlement
- The point at which the funds actually move between the banks involved, completing the obligation created by a payment. A reject occurs before settlement; a return occurs after it.
- Return reason code
- A code that explains why a previously accepted payment was sent back. Under ISO 20022 these are drawn from a standardised external code list.
- Fatal vs retryable
- A way of classifying error codes by whether resubmitting can help. Fatal codes need the underlying problem fixed first; retryable codes reflect a temporary condition that may clear on a later attempt. Each code page states which it is.
- PSP (payment service provider)
- An organisation that provides payment services, such as a bank, building society, or fintech. PSPs send and receive Faster Payments on behalf of their customers.
- Agency / indirect access
- An arrangement where a PSP reaches Faster Payments through another directly-connected institution (a sponsor or agency bank) rather than connecting to the scheme itself. Some error codes relate specifically to agency routing.