What is a standing order?
A standing order is a regular, fixed-amount payment from your account to another UK bank account.
When you set one up, you can decide how often you would like the recurring payment to come out of your account — it could be weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly. You can also choose whether you want the recurring payment to continue until a certain date, or if you’d rather it had no end date.
A standing order payment will reach the recipient on the due date, as long as it's a business day.
What you'll need to set up a standing order
To set up a standing order you'll need to know the following:
- Name of the recipient
- Account number and sort code of the recipient
- Payment amount
- Payment frequency
- Number of payments
- Payment start date
- Reference - see below for what you need to put here.
A standing order reference is a unique code provided by the billing company that helps them to identify your payment. It's usually your account number or customer number, as provided by the company you are paying.
If your standing order is made to an individual like friends or family, your reference lets them know where the payment came from and would usually be your name.
If you don't provide a reference your payment might be returned. Please make sure you enter the reference correctly. Please note, references can show on bank statements, so abusive or foul terms should not be used.
How to set up a standing order
The quickest way to set up a standing order is to log into online banking and complete the following 6 steps:
1. First, log in to online banking using your login details.
2. Then, select ‘Pay and transfer’ from the menu on the left.
3. Next, select the account you’d like the standing order to come from.
Then, decide who you want the standing order to be paid to
- If you’re setting up payments to an account you’ve paid before — select ‘Pay a saved payee’ then select your saved payee. Once you've selected your saved payee, select 'Pay later or create a standing order', enter payment date and select 'Create a standing order'.
- If you’re setting up payments to an account you’ve not paid before — select ‘Pay someone new’, select ‘In the UK’, and then enter the payee’s name, sort code, and account number. If you’re paying a business, select the ‘Pay a business’ tick box. If you’re not, then you do not need to select this. You'll also need to enter a reference for the payment. Finish adding a new payee by clicking ‘Verify payee’. This can help you make sure you’re sending money to the right account and avoid potential scams.
If you're not registered for online or mobile banking, you can contact us to set up a standing order.
Change the details of a standing order
You can change any of the following details on an existing standing order:
- Due date of your payment
- Payment amount
- Number of payments to be made
- Payment frequency
- Amend reference.
You can't change the recipient name on a standing order. If you need to change the recipient name you'll need to cancel the standing order and create a new one.
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