A simpler way to make payments

When you pay online, you can choose how you pay. A Faster Payment usually sends money right away, but it can take up to two hours. Standing Orders let you set up a repeat payment. Direct Debits let a company request money from your account.

When you pay a UK account online, we’ll use the Faster Payments Service. There is a daily limit of £25,000. Faster Payments can be made 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and sent immediately or set up for the future.

If you want to send more, visit any UK branch with valid identification and staff can help you send up to £250,000* using the Faster Payment Service. If you need to send more than £250,000* on the same day, you can through CHAPS (CHAPS costs £25 per payment). Or, you can write a cheque to make a payment.

You can also transfer money between your Halifax accounts instantly, Pay a Contact, pay in a cheque using the app and buy Travel Money online.

Sending money abroad? Find out all about sending money outside the UK or in a foreign currency.

*Temporary Increase during Covid-19

Faster Payments usually arrive within 2 hours, but can take until the end of the next working day. Direct Debits and Standing Orders will be collected shortly after midnight on the due date.

How much can I send?

We will always have lower limits when you call us.

With Faster Payments you can send up to £25,000* online, £250,000** in branch or £10,000 by calling us every day.

Your limit resets at 11:59pm each day.

*If you have a Websaver or Express Cash account your limits may vary to the above.

**During Covid-19 Branch limit is temporarily increased to £250,000

Your payment limit amount includes bill payments, payments to individuals and new standing orders or any increases to existing Standing Orders and existing future payments. Any Payments you set up today for a future date are counted towards today’s daily limit. So if you set up a standing order for next week, it will count towards today's limit.

Direct Debits let a company take money from your account, for example to pay a gas bill. Standing Orders let you send a set amount of money on a regular basis, for example to a savings account.

Standing Orders
You can set up standing orders easily through Online Banking.

Step 1: Get started
To get started select ‘Payments & transfers’ on the account you want to move money from.

Step 2: Choose when to pay
Once you have selected who you are sending money to, use the ‘Repeat Payment (make this a standing order)’ button and select when and for how long you would like to make the payment for.

Step 3: Check and Set up
It’s easy to check everything’s correct before confirming the payment.

When you see ‘Success’ you know your payment has been sent and the standing order has been set up.

Watch video: how to set up a standing order

You will be able to view, add, change or delete any of your standing orders whenever you want through Manage transactions in your Online Banking.

If you need some help with setting up standing orders, just call us on 0345 720 3040.

Direct Debits
With a Direct Debit, you give a company permission to take money from your account. You might use one to pay bills. Lots of companies offer benefits for paying by Direct Debit.

You can see and cancel your Direct Debits online. To set up a new Direct Debit, you’ll need to contact the company you want to pay. Your Direct Debits are covered by the Direct Debit Guarantee.

If you’re cancelling a Direct Debit before making a final payment, you should also always tell the company you’re paying.

You’ll find more information about payment holidays on our Coronavirus help & support page.

Important information about Standing Orders and Future Dated Payments
This information applies to the following payment types; Standing Orders, Direct Debits, Cheques and Future Dated Payments.

We make payments from your account shortly after midnight at the start of the due date. If your payment date falls on a non-working day, then we will try to collect your payment the next working day.

If you don’t have enough funds in your account at this point to make a payment, we will try to make a payment again after 2.30pm the same day. This gives you the chance to put extra funds into your account so that we can make the payment. The money needs to be available to use straight away, so you could transfer money from another personal account you have with us via Online, Mobile or Telephone Banking or pay in cash over the counter in branch.

If you do not have enough funds at the beginning of a day to make a payment:
You have until 2.30pm to pay money into your account to make the payment that day
If a payment takes you overdrawn, you have until midnight to pay money into your account to avoid a daily overdraft fee for that day.

For Standing Orders and Future Dated Payments only
If there are still not enough available funds, we will make a final try on the next working day before rejecting the payment. Details of our fees and charges can be found in the Banking Charges guide.