Modulr has become a direct participant in CHAPS, the UK's high-value payment scheme, settling directly at the Bank of England.
The UK-based payments automation platform has gained direct access to CHAPS, the country's same-day high-value payment scheme, enabling it to settle payments directly at the Bank of England rather than through an intermediary bank. The move extends Modulr's existing direct connections to the UK's other major payment infrastructures.
Direct access to all three UK payment schemes
With this development, Modulr becomes the only non-bank payment service provider (NBPSP) in the UK with direct access to all three of the country's major payment schemes: Faster Payments, Bacs, and CHAPS. Direct participation in CHAPS removes the need to route high-value, time-critical payments through a sponsor bank, giving Modulr greater control over settlement timing and payment flows.
CHAPS is used for high-value and time-sensitive transactions, including property purchases, corporate payments, and interbank settlements. According to Bank of England data, the scheme settled GBP 93.9 trillion across a record 53.3 million payments in 2025, averaging GBP 371.3 billion every working day. The scale of the scheme underlines its role as core settlement infrastructure for the UK financial system.
Context for the move
Direct participation in payment schemes has become a point of differentiation for non-bank payment providers seeking to reduce reliance on intermediary banking relationships, which can introduce additional cost, settlement delay, and operational risk. By connecting directly to CHAPS, Modulr aims to support increasing transaction volumes and offer customers a more efficient service for high-value payments, without depending on a third-party settlement partner for this scheme.
Modulr operates a payments automation platform used for functions including payroll, supplier payments, spend management, foreign exchange, and payment collection. The company processes more than 200 million transactions and over GBP 180 billion in payment value on an annualised basis, and states it serves more than 6,000 businesses, including through a partnership with FIS. Modulr is authorised and regulated as an electronic money institution in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and in Europe by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).
The addition of direct CHAPS access follows Modulr's earlier direct connections to Faster Payments and Bacs, consolidating its position among UK payment infrastructure participants with settlement access across all three domestic schemes.
