Latent challenge

As speeds increase the choice facing technologists at financial institutions about whether to specify copper or fibre cabling systems to meet their capacity, continuity, latency and green challenges is becoming increasingly complex. Philip Hunter examines the options

Q&A: UK Faster Payments Scheme

Traditionally it took three days to clear the majority of electronic payments in the UK, so regardless if consumers or businesses used the phone, internet or a standing order to settle their bills, they’d have to wait a considerable time for their instruction to be processed. All this has changed however with the recent launch of the UKFPS, an industry initiative that enables a near real-time service, vastly improving the customer experience that banks, building societies and others can now offer. Neil Ainger talks to Martin Wilson at the infrastructure provider VocaLink about the project and its implications