# UK payment methods for funding your financial account

Your UK financial account holds GBP and can receive funds via two networks: Faster Payments for near-instant everyday transfers, and CHAPS for same-day high-value payments. Both use the same account details, which you can find in the Stripe Dashboard under **Financial account** > **Account details**.
## Faster Payments
Faster Payments (FPS) is the UK's everyday payment network, used for the vast majority of personal and business bank transfers. It's what happens behind the scenes when you send money via your UK banking app.
Faster Payments operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no cutoff times and no bank holiday restrictions. Most UK banks include it at no charge.
The scheme allows payments up to 1,000,000 GBP, but many banks apply their own lower per-transaction limits (often 25,000-250,000 GBP for retail and business accounts). If your sender's bank limit is lower than the amount you need, CHAPS is the alternative.
**Best for:** Day-to-day top-ups at any time, any day. Free to receive.
## CHAPS
CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System) is the UK's high-value same-day payment system, operated by the Bank of England. Each payment settles individually and is final once processed. It's the system used for property purchases, large corporate transactions, and any transfer where same-day certainty and no upper limit matter.
CHAPS operates on UK business days only. Your sending bank will have a daily submission cutoff, typically around **3pm GMT/BST**, though some banks cut off as early as 2:30pm. Payments submitted after the cutoff are held until the next business day. Your sending bank will usually charge an outbound fee of 15-40 GBP.
**Best for:** Large transfers that exceed your sender's Faster Payments limit, or when same-day settlement on a business day is required. No upper limit.
## Which method should I use?
- Situation
- Recommended method
---
- Routine top-ups, any time of day
- FPS
---
- Large transfers (over your bank's FPS limit)
- CHAPS
---
- Transfer needed outside UK business hours
- FPS (operates 24/7)
---
- Same-day, time-critical, high value
- CHAPS (before cutoff)
## Comparison
|                   | Faster Payments                | CHAPS                          |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------ |
| Speed             | Typically seconds              | Same business day              |
| Availability      | 24/7/365                       | Business days with ~3pm cutoff |
| Fee to receive    | Free                           | Free                           |
| Sending bank fee  | Usually free                   | Usually 15-40 GBP              |
| Per-payment limit | Up to 1,000,000 GBP (bank-set) | No limit                       |