Automated payments hit a record high in 2018, with 6.4 billion transactions processed at a total value of £5 million, according to Pay.UK.

The retail payments authority, which is in charge of Bacs Payment Schemes and Faster Payments, stated that in August 2018 alone 580 million payments were processed, surpassing the previous high of 573 million set in December 2015.

On a daily basis, a peak figure of 114 millions transactions was recorded at the end of August, but was later surpassed by the 123 million payments processed by Bacs on a single day in November.

Meanwhile, the growth of subscription services for food delivery and media streaming saw direct debits rise to nearly 4.4 billion transactions, equivalent to eight direct debits for every UK adult.

Meanwhile, the use of Bacs Direct Credit, which is used to pay wages, salaries, pensions and benefits, as well as supplier payments, saw record values of £3.63 billion, compared with £2.96 billion 10 years earlier.

Paul Horlock, chief executive of Pay.UK, said: “We are working hard to create the best retail payments industry in the world, and results like this underline the strength of the foundations on which we are building."

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