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A “global payments issue” has hit the Bank of England’s CHAPS service. 

The issue is causing delays to high-value and time-sensitive payments,
including some house purchases, the Bank says. 

“We are mindful of the impact this is likely to have and are working closely with a third-party supplier, industry and other
authorities to resolve the issue as promptly as possible,” it says. 

Retail payment systems and cash machines have not been affected. 

It is not clear how many payments have been impacted by the issue, which the Bank has been aware of since midday. 

Sky News understands a cyber incident has been ruled out.

Director of Thomas Legal, Chris Barry says the issue will affect property exchanges and completions up and down the country today. 

“Whilst many completions are preset and happen earlier in the day, some will still happen between the issue being announced and the cut off of 4pm,” he told Newspage. 

“For many, this has just made an already stressful day even more stressful. Most contracts have a 12pm or 1pm hard time embedded, so if the payment is being made now, they are technically in breach of contract.” 

CHAPS is one of the largest high-value payment systems in the world. 

High street banks and a number of international banks use the system to make large payments, with the system processing around £350bn a day. 

It can also be used by people spending lots of money – up to millions of pounds – on items such as cars, boats and properties. 

Our business presenter Ian King says it’s not uncommon for CHAPS to experience problems, but the fact it’s a global issue “does raise one or two eyebrows”. 

“The problems usually crop up when one bank or another is experiencing a particularly heavy workload, and that’s when delays can happen,” he says. 

“Potentially, it could cause a lot of aggravation for people who are trying to complete on a housing transaction today.

“It is a big part of the financial plumbing for the financial services industry.” 

Has your house purchase been delayed because of the issue? If so, we would like to hear from you. 

To get in touch, send us a message on WhatsApp.

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