Bacs have released their processing calendar for 2019, giving organisations the info they need to plan Direct Debit transactions around holiday periods.

The greyed-out boxes show the non-input and non-processing days. On these days, Direct Debits won’t be processed, so you will need to allow more time for Direct Debit transactions or organise your Direct Debits to come out earlier.

On the whole, processing will take place over a three-day cycle but make sure you leave enough time for payment bounces. If you’re not up to speed with Bacs processing cycles, you can find out more here.

Any dates that fall into the blue boxes are bank holidays in Northern Ireland.

Easter and Christmas processing dates

Easter Sunday falls on April 21^st, 2019. Direct Debit payments can be submitted up until the 18^th April, after which you will have to wait until the 23^rd. The latest you can submit a payment to ensure it arrives before the 18^th April is the 16^th April.

The situation is similar for Christmas 2019 – the earliest a payment can be submitted to reach the payee before Christmas Day is the 20^th December.

Bacs lays this out in more detail:

Important processing information

Along with the calendar, Bacs have also released important processing guidelines:

• Ensure your software reflects Bacs non-processing days
• You can submit your file up to 30 calendar days in advance of the processing date. If you cannot submit in advance, we recommend early submission on input day (from 07:00 onwards)
• Ensure all staff involved in processing your Bacs payments have access to a copy of the Bacs 2019 processing calendar

—

Remember, if you are a DFC customer, then you don’t have to worry about any of the above – calendars or instructions. We’ll handle all the processing for you.