The November launch date for the UK’s faster payments initiative has been delayed because it failed to meet its testing schedule.

The faster payments initiative involves 13 UK banks developing a new infrastructure to speed up 24-hour internet, phone and standing order payments to reach the recipient’s bank account within a few hours.

Retail banking trade body Apacs says a new launch date has not yet been decided and consultants are determining an appropriate date to launch.

Apacs director of communications Sandra Quinn says it became clear over the last couple of months that the testing process was taking longer than anticipated.

‘We couldn’t guarantee delivering a system which was as robust as it should be in November because we couldn’t complete the testing schedule in time,’ said Quinn.

There were concerns about a shorter testing schedule than originally anticipated because that could have caused problems for individual banks, says Quinn.

‘The key thing is that a payments from NatWest can go to Barclays, for example, and visa versa and that everybody is at the same stage,’ she said.

‘We weren’t sufficiently convinced that we could launch all 13 at the right time.'

VocaLink, the supplier developing the new payments system under a joint venture called Immediate Payments, drew up the testing timetable, says Quinn.