Protect your payments today with a tailored contingency plan
Get in touch with our Bacs experts.
When disruption strikes, our contingency services ensure your transactions keep flowing—securely and compliantly.
When it comes to paying staff, suppliers, or collecting Direct Debits, reliability is everything. At paygate, we understand that any disruption to your Bacs payments can have a major impact on your business. That’s why we build robust contingency planning into our Bacs solution — so your payments keep moving, even when the unexpected happens.
Submission of files through alternative routes, including your sponsoring bank’s contingency process or via secure backup systems.
Payment files are automatically backed up and stored securely, ready for immediate re-submission if needed. All backups follow Bacs-approved encryption and compliance standards.
In the unlikely event that Bacs cannot be used, paygate supports fallback payment methods such as Faster Payments, ensuring critical transactions are never missed.
We regularly test contingency scenarios with our customers and banking partners to make sure recovery plans work in practice, not just on paper.
Our specialist support team is on hand to guide you through contingency procedures, liaise with your sponsoring bank, and ensure your payments are processed correctly.
“paygate’s contingency service has been invaluable. They process payments quickly and securely, using just a simple list of payment details and bank information. It consistently delivers when we need it most”
Philip Hedges
Head of Transactional Finance, Hillingdon Council
With paygate, you don’t just get a Bacs solution, you get a partner who takes continuity as seriously as you do. Our contingency planning means you can be confident that your people get paid, your suppliers are looked after, and your business keeps running smoothly.
Our team of product and industry experts, with their decades of combined payment experience, are ready to help when you need them.
Once the issue is resolved, we’ll guide you back to your standard Bacs submission process and help reconcile any contingency payments. This ensures your financial records stay accurate and compliant.
We’re always on hand to answer any questions and give advice. Click the button below to reach out.
Contingency planning is important for payment systems as it ensures businesses can continue processing payments in the event of a system failure, cyber incident, or unexpected disruption, minimising downtime and protecting cash flow.
Having a robust contingency plan ensures Bacs payments can continue during system outages, whether through a bureau provider as a backup submission route, maintained offline payment files, or trained staff ready to switch to alternative processes at short notice.
Key strategies for payment continuity include backup submission routes, regularly tested recovery procedures, offline payment file backups, dual authorisation processes, and working with an accredited bureau provider to ensure payments can be processed without interruption.
Contingency planning reduces financial risk by ensuring payment processes can continue during disruptions, minimising delayed transactions, protecting cash flow, and avoiding the reputational and operational damage that comes with failed or missed payments.
There are a number of tools that can help, including backup Bacs submission software, bureau provider services, encrypted file storage, and automated payment scheduling — all designed to keep payments running smoothly and securely if something unexpected happens.
Get in touch with our Bacs experts.
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| paygate on prem | paygate v2 | paygate v3 | |
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Security policy manager * Includes: password complexity manager, inactive timeout, time restrictions, IP address restrictions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
AWS ISO27001 hosted * Primary fail over and back up UK data centres | ✓ | ✓ | |
SFTP file uploads/downloads *Secure way to move files across the internet, customers can use their own certificates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Gemalto security tokens MFA | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Email MFA | ✓ | ||
| SMS MFA | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
APP MFA * Works with common auth apps such as Google Authenticator, Authy. Works on Android or iOS. | ✓ | ||
| PG Platform ISO27001 | ✓ | ||
Fraud tool *Currently support Blacklists and Whitelists. In a blacklist you add various sortcodes / account numbers and the system will prevent any payment to those accounts. In a whitelist you add sortcodes and account numbers and the system will ONLY allow payments to accounts on the whitelist. We include various tools to help build and maintain the lists. | ✓ | ||
GDPR subject access request * Search tools to help perform a GDRP lookup. Then can optionally ‘sanitise’ personal data from the system. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
GDPR Data cleansing *Remove historical data by bulk or individual. | ✓ | ||
Browser compatbility * We maintain support for Chrome, Edge and Firefox. | ✓ | ||
Built for performance * Version 3 runs on super modern, high-end infrastructure | ✓ | ||
Single Platform * Customers have a single user account that they can use across all services (Enterprise, Online, Validate, etc). | ✓ | ||
Agent rebuilt key management system * Very secure way to get files to and from the Paygate cloud. Supports ways to automate files being sent into the paygate cloud and retrieving reports from the cloud. Key management was rebuilt for V3 to further increase security. | ✓ | ||
HTTPS uploads/downloads * paygate v3 supports both SFTP and HTTPS. | ✓ | ||
In browser File and Folder handling * Allows customers to securely organise their files and folders that are stored on paygate | ✓ |
| PG on prem | PG Ev2 | PGv3 | |
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| Logging tickets by email | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Logging tickets by portal | ✓ | ||
| Logging tickets by phone | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dedicated account management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Uptime improvements | ✓ | ||
| Ongoing development | ✓ | ||
| Bug fixing | ✓ | ||
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Auto File Import *Automatically imports a payment file and validates it. Users no longer need to manually browse for and import a file, paygate will do this in the background and present the validation results to the user. |
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| PG on prem | PG Ev2 | PGv3 | |
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Designer in browser * In V2 Workflows use an older style desktop app. In V3 workflows are built and managed in the Paygate Browser app. It’s much easier to deploy and manage. |
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| Designer 3rd party app | ✓ | ✓ | |
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Improved logging * A feature mainly for PS/CS to help them diagnose problems with workflows. Problems can be diagnosed and fixed faster. |
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New scheduler triggers * A new trigger type that allows the user to set up a workflow like you set up a meeting in Outlook. For some, this is more flexible and easier to understand than using CRON. |
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Triggers for multiple workflows * You can use a single trigger to start multiple workflows. It’s a simple feature that will make things easier to manage if you have a lot of workflows. |
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Workflow validation * Troubleshoots new workflows, validation |
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Workflow chaining * Allows a workflow to call another workflow. Using this you can simplify large complicated workflows in smaller separate ones. Easier to manage and diagnose issues. |
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New nodes * Various new nodes that help to build new types of workflows or help manage existing workflows. |
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Full documentation V3 will be fully documented with help guides and tutorials.
and tutorials * |
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Multiple filename variables * Supporting multiple filename variables should make designing complex workflows a bit easier. |
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Future developments * Pure Excel Importer – XLSX; BACS Calendar Widget; Workflow Timeline; Workflow / Mobile App notification / management; S3 Connector |
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Download and distribute A Reports * When you have workflow and HSM you can automate the entire BACS report download process. They can automatically be converted to other formats for integration into finance apps. They can be emailed to customers as html, pdf or zips. They can be made available for collection via SFTP. Or, if you use Agent, they can be security delivered to the customer’s private network. |
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| Partial submission | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
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Lightsout submission * No signing |
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| Standard nodes for initiation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| PG on prem | PG Ev2 | PGv3 | |
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| Batched bureau submissions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Manual & Automated submission builder | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Customer import | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bacs reporting tools | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Recall Bureau Customers by ID | ✓ | ||
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Submission Re-entry * Complete your submissions over any amount of time
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Familiar workflow throughout *It will be familiar to V2 customer but they will notice improvements. |
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| Revamped manual submission mode *This is completely new in V3 Bureau.
Those customers wanting a more manual way of building their submission (Rather than using Jobs) will find a new, efficient way of working.
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Drag and drop files from anywhere *Like in other areas of V3. User can just drag and drop file in Bureau for processing. They can also use the Restricted File Browser and Server file browser – that add more security – if they wish. |
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Support for multiple file formats per submission * No longer limited to single Standard 18 submission for example
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Better default filename support *Makes working with files easier. |
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Usage Reporting over data range *Small but useful improvement to reporting. User can set a date range on the usage report. |
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| PG on prem | PG Ev2 | PGv3 | |
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Validate *Validate is integrated in V3 and so customers that have both products can access them from the same client with the same account. |
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API Access *Validate API and the Payment API.
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| 4x Faster | ✓ | ||
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Save Submissions *Save an ‘in-progress’ submission and return to it later. Build up a submission during the day |
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| Improved payment and submission searching | ✓ | ||
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Customisable dashboard *Many useful, module specific, dashboard widgets, e.g. Payments, collections, workflow, etc. |
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| PG on prem | PG Ev2 | PGv3 | |
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| Enhanced reporting including real-time usage | ✓ |