Biz security deadline knocked back 3 months 'cos Brits ignored it A deadline for businesses to make sure they were compatible with new payment security measures has been extended after around 1,000 UK companies failed to take the necessary action. These businesses risked being unable to pay staff and suppliers, forcing Bacs Payment Schemes Limited to extend its deadline by three months from …
Leave campaign blames EU for foisting this unwanted bureaucracy on UK small biz.
Remain campaign blames racists for making it necessary to upgrade.
Meanwhile, back in the real world...
somewhat embarrassing for everyone not paying enough attention, especially as I suspect those who are known to have failed to check are vastly outweighed by those who have failed to check and still don't know there is about to be a problem.
I work for a school.
We were told, without much ceremony, that we needed to upgrade in order to continue making BACS payments. We upgraded. It wasn't hard.
As far as I know, nothing has changed as at least one of the finance machines is still on an older version and that's the one they actually pay BACS from (the others are all backups and secondary authorisations etc.). Never just blindly update without keeping the old system around for a while, just in case, that's my motto.
To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if, when they flick the switch, lots more breaks than they ever intended and they are forced into another "extension", but we hadn't heard anything about this one actually happening and - to my knowledge - there's nothing actually happening differently at the moment.
It does make you wonder why something like BACS is still dependent on in-computer (and browser) support for things like TLS, however. You'd honestly think it would be better off as an app for various systems with its own root certificates and verification that can be updated independently of the underlying OS.
You can give them a two month extension, but there's still be plenty of businesses who won't update their security until a couple of hours after they find all their payments being blocked. I've worked with too may clients who regard everything that's not directly making them money as a waste of time to hope for a better response.
The businesses know they have Bacs Payment Schemes Limited over a barrel.
If it cuts them off because they don't update, it'll lose money and/or customers, at least short term.
So they thumbed their noses, called the bluff, and sure enough, an extension.
In three months, it'll be "lather, rinse, repeat" until it finally costs the businesses more not to update.
They have BACS over a barrel? Really?
A company has three ways to pay it's staff and suppliers.
Cash
Cheque
BACS
Cash is out, no supplier will take cash and employees won't be happy about carrying large sums to banks that are closed out of office hours.
Cheques are expensive. Special printers to supply them, approval from your bank, bank charges to process them. Also will take some time to go from approval from the bank over the design, to ordering them and getting them printed and then being able to use them.
BACS. Get the software supplier in, get it tested in days and ready to go in a week or two. Or do it properly, before the deadline.
Don't pay your suppliers and employees, it won't be BACS who lose out. 1000 companies not paying a few pounds a week is nothing to BACS, compared to the fees they get from processing the payments for companies and Govt departments processing thousands of payments a day.
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