A host of enhancements to cross-border payments are promising to enrich the global payments landscape. But implementing change within this complex industry isn’t straightforward.
In today’s instant, interconnected world, a crucial juncture has been reached in cross-border payments. Businesses and consumers – increasingly frustrated with inadequate, inefficient legacy international payment processes – are demanding fast, transparent and low-cost services from their providers. And the need for the industry to deliver is becoming ever-more pressing.
Initiatives are progressing at pace to help facilitate the move to seamless, 24/7 real-time global payments. The aim is to effectively replicate the same client experience that has become easily accessible in the domestic payments space. But change of this scale comes with challenges, and a by-product of the race to deliver real-time cross-border payments is a landscape inundated with different concepts and services, with fragmentation exacerbated by individual countries’ unique sets of payments rules and regulations.
Internationally, initiatives such as the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-Border Payments, which sets out quantitative targets to help make cross-border payments cheaper, faster, more transparent and accessible by 2027, have catalysed industry-wide efforts to promote greater standardization, legal and regulatory harmonization and payment system interoperability1. Certainly, as the industry edges closer to enhanced cross-border payments, there must be a focus not only on enablement, but standardization to tackle the fragmentation head-on, while also ensuring security and client satisfaction are maximized.
The challenging world of cross-border payments
Moving funds internationally is a complex undertaking, involving multiple parties, navigating time zones and adhering to regulatory requirements of each jurisdiction. This makes the process slow and convoluted, with high costs for both sender and receiver, and a lack of transparency regarding payment status and the associated fees. Given this, it is unsurprising that global payments have become a pain point for clients – and indeed their banking partners. Financial institutions (FIs) are only too aware of the impact of legacy processes on client service, and the very real need to implement enhanced processes to get global payments up to speed – literally – with the demands of the 21st century.
As banks resolve to deliver cutting-edge cross-border payments, they face legacy platform challenges, a lack of real-time infrastructure, and innovation hobbled by regulatory constraints. Against this backdrop, banks must also contend with an increasingly competitive landscape. Inventive, nimble non-bank players with a global presence have thrown their hats into the cross-border payments ring to deliver non-traditional approaches to solve the high cost and obscurity problem. By creating alternative payment networks, fintechs are providing a user experience that many banks are currently unable to match when it comes to speed, transparency and cost.
As FIs seek to overcome these obstacles and provide clients with flexible, instant cross-border payments, aligning with the pillars of the G20 Roadmap is essential for supporting a uniform global payments ecosystem and enabling banks to progress effectively towards the cross-border end goal. Designed to promote faster acceleration of global instant payments, it is invaluable to helping the banking industry most effectively chart a path to a coherent, consistent future.
Fusing the old and the new: combining legacy low-value rails with instant clearing
A key approach the industry is adopting will enhance existing infrastructure, with an emphasis on improving speed and visibility. Banks are readily implementing new industry initiatives – such as those provided by Swift – and other new technologies and processes to meet the needs of their global clients.
For example, by standardizing correspondent banking payment reporting under uniform rules, Swift gpi provides real-time, end-to-end tracking and transparency for cross-border payments. This has subsequently contributed to reduced overall end-to-end processing times, and therefore a better service for clients. Building on the success of Swift gpi, Swift Go standardizes correspondent banking relationships under uniform service level agreements. This enables similar capabilities for the low-value payment space – facilitating more efficient delivery channels such as ACH and instant payments, rather than funds transfers only.
Complementing these developments, financial institutions are embracing interoperability, alternative payment rails, and smart foreign exchange (FX) services to reduce costs and enhance service delivery. BNY’s Swift to ACH initiative allows financial institutions to initiate cross-border payments via ISO 20022 pacs.008 messages and deliver them through the domestic US ACH rail – a lower-cost alternative to traditional USD wire transfers. Beneficiaries receive the full amount by the next day, while originators benefit from reduced transaction costs and the ability to provide a predictable client experience. This service is part of a suite of Low Value Payment resources that include offering FX conversions into a wide range of local currencies for delivery over low-cost payment rails – helping institutions lower costs and stay competitive with fintech offerings. BNY’s extensive correspondent banking network, along with strategic collaborations with fintechs and other service providers, empower us to broaden our offering to deliver a wider range of service beyond conventional financial services.
The combination of industry and proprietary initiatives are helping banks to expand their global payments value propositions and deliver the quality of service that clients are seeking – without the need for prohibitively expensive investment in new infrastructure. Banks are becoming truly competitive in today’s cross-border payments space.
Standing on solid ground: foundations for consistency
The next step is to enable interoperability and connectivity between different payments systems and platforms by aligning compliance and regulatory requirements across jurisdictions. This requires governments, network operators, banks, and industry bodies to move in the same direction, adopt common standards, and create uniform processes for exception management. Encouragingly, progress is already underway across several regions.
This is being addressed in Europe through the EPC’s One-Leg Out Instant Credit Transfer (OCT Inst) scheme, which enables payment service providers (PSPs) to leverage existing Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payment rails – including procedures, features, and standards – to facilitate cross-border payments that have one euro leg inside and one leg outside SEPA. For example, in November 2024 EBA CLEARING went live with an OCT Inst Service for RT1, its pan-European, real-time payment processing system for instant credit transfers2.
A similar approach is being adopted in other markets to enable cross-border interoperability using existing domestic rails. One notable example is BNY’s partnership with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). Through our correspondent banking relationship, BNY clients can now send real-time payments to Australia 24/7, 365 days a year. This has been made possible by a new feature within the New Payments Platform (NPP), Australia’s real-time payments system. The International Payments Service (IPS) allows the Australian dollar component of inbound cross-border payments to be processed instantly. Previously, international transactions could only be settled via traditional funds transfers. Now, CBA can settle and clear payments on BNY’s behalf 24/7, with beneficiaries able to access funds in as little as 60 seconds – regardless of the sender’s location. With a network of over 2,000 correspondent banks across the globe, BNY is replicating this process with partner banks in other countries as other jurisdictions adopt an international framework within their instant payment schemes.
Elsewhere, the US-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA) has been established to enhance cross-border payments between the three countries. As part of the strategy, input from fintechs is being encouraged to share skillsets and develop optimized processes.
Certainly, fintechs and emerging technologies have a role to play in shaping global payments. Blockchain-based services for continuous settlement on a single ledger are emerging as alternatives to correspondent banking. Several markets are increasingly selecting digital wallets as a preferred service option.
Combined, these infrastructure developments may allow global payments to occur at any time, without being limited by business hours, time zones, or working days. This could result in greater cash flow visibility, more efficient supplier management, and improved liquidity control for businesses. Overall, real-time payments have increased flexibility in managing liquidity.
Piecing together the payments puzzle
While the industry unites to create a more standardized environment there will, however, inevitably continue to be different schemes in different markets, all with their own unique models, rules and Service Level Agreements. Banks should consider their target markets and integration with relevant initiatives to effectively meet clients’ international payment needs.
Banks then must provide a one-stop shop for global payments that allows clients to move money fast, anywhere, and anytime with ease. Indeed, with complexity and fragmentation rife, it is the ability to offer a simple, effective experience that will provide the greatest value.
At the same time, the industry must work towards integrating common values and infrastructure within initiatives such as ‘one-leg-out’ settlement, digital wallets and correspondent banking models, to enable the global payments ecosystem as a whole to function seamlessly. In this respect, the G20 Roadmap should be regarded almost as a North Star, guiding the industry towards alignment by following its principles. Doing so will help to instil a common infrastructure framework, centered on standardized rules and principles around 24/7 availability, transparency, finality, fraud prevention, and a common messaging standard.
While fragmentation continues to exist within cross-border infrastructure, building solid foundations and promoting collaboration will champion future solidarity, manage markets holistically for a truly global solution, and map the path for future connectivity.
Joanne Strobel-Cort, Managing Director, Head of International Payments Products Treasury Services | BNY
About The Author
Joanne Strobel-Cort is Head of International Payments Products at BNY, steering strategy, development, and execution of global payments solutions. With over 30 years’ experience, Joanne has held senior roles at Wells Fargo—leading segment solutions, technical sales and network management—and served as Head of Payables Products at Citizens Bank, with prior transaction banking positions at Deutsche Bank, ABN AMRO and Citibank. An industry authority, she has participated in SWIFT councils, chaired CHIPS and BAFT committees, spoken at SIBOS and published articles on cross-border payments.
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to pause his payments on a $1.44 billion defamation judgment entered after he claimed the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 9 (UPI) — InfoWars publisher Alex Jones wants the Supreme Court to pause a $1.44 billion defamation judgment against him for making false claims about a 2012 school shooting.
Conservative conspiracy theorist Jones on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to pause his payments to the surviving families of the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, according to The Hill.
The families successfully sued Jones for defamation after he claimed the school shooting was a hoax and are readying to take control of InfoWars, which they intend to turn over to the satirical news site The Onion.
In Thursday’s emergency filing, Jones says the pause is necessary to stop his InfoWars site from being “acquired by its ideological nemesis and destroyed,” NBC News reported.
A Connecticut court in 2022 ordered Jones to pay $1.44 billion to the surviving families of 20 schoolchildren, who were shot and killed by Adam Lanza on Dec. 14, 2012.
Jones filed for personal bankruptcy soon after several judgments were entered against him, but his petition was denied.
He earlier was fined $25,000 per day by a Connecticut judge for refusing to submit to a deposition in the matter.
Lanza, 20, murdered his mother and used her firearm to shoot and kill 20 school children and six adults at the same elementary school he once attended in Newtown, Conn.
He shot and killed himself when law enforcement arrived at the school, which since has been razed and replaced.
Treasurers today are under tremendous pressure. Cash must move seamlessly to keep pace with rapid technological change and fast internal decision making.
Vendors expect instant payments. Employees count on timely payments and reimbursements. Meanwhile, regulations are continually changing. Patric Leone, Product Owner, Connectivity, at Fides Treasury Services, discusses seven payment principles treasurers need to apply to meet modern treasury demands and focus on what really matters — the continuing health and future of the business.
Keeping Up with Modern Treasury Trends
Making a payment used to be simple. Now, it’s a daily exercise in compliance, technology, and risk management, and it’s vital that treasurers have the right policies, processes, safeguards, and technology partners in place.
The advent of ISO 20022, real-time payments, purpose codes, AI-driven automation, and digital identity frameworks are all pushing even seasoned treasury professionals to adapt.
Significant regulatory changes are also underway. Verification of Payee (VoP) in Europe will help prevent payment fraud and errors. The mandatory use of structured address data for international payments will enhance anti-money laundering and sanctions screening.
There’s a lot to learn, and a lot of potential for innovation. But in the pursuit of progress, foundational safeguards like secure connectivity and process integrity are often deprioritized.
Seven Treasury Payments Principles
To simplify the process, treasurers can apply the following seven principles to achieve a solid framework for security, compliance, and risk management:
Balance Self-Service and Centralized Control Flexible, self-service sign-off frameworks are valuable for organizations of every size, from small and midsized companies to multinational enterprises. Even if you choose to streamline routine payments, applying a systemwide maximum payout helps maintain strategic oversite and governance across teams, geographies, and business units.
Implement Role-Based Access Controls (RBAC) Whether you are connecting to banks and processing payments through an ERP, TMS, bank portal, or connectivity provider like Fides, role-based permissions ensure compliance, from over-limit approvals by senior staff to restricting BIC and Swift configurations to technical experts.
Regularly Revalidate Access Rights Dynamic global teams demand flexible access models, but also are subject to more frequent organizational and responsibility changes. You should regularly review and update the granular user roles, such as administrators and signers for account setup and approval-only profiles, that you set up as part of your RBAC strategy.
Keep on Top of Sanctions Screening Sanctions lists are constantly evolving, especially in today’s volatile geopolitical climate. To reduce risk and ensure compliance, every payment must be screened every time with no exceptions.
Use Allow Lists Adding accounts to an “allow list” ensures only trusted recipients are paid. To reduce risk of error or fraud, security can be handled via the “four-eyes principle” within a treasury aggregation platform or coded into an ERP or TMS.
Don’t Rely on AI Alone The market is buzzing with new AI-based fraud prevention tools. While these tools have promise to help streamline workflows, we aren’t yet at a point where AI can (or should) operate without a human in the loop.
Partner with a Connectivity Provider Secure, intelligent, and scalable connectivity is not just a technical requirement. It’s the foundation of modern treasury. Look for a connectivity provider with experience across multiple connectivity channels and extensive implementations. A track record of reliability, auditability, and high customer service ratings is a must. In addition to technical know-how, your connectivity partner should act as an expert advisor, including providing guidance on banks, tools like ERPs and TMSs, and treasury trends to help you adapt to change today and in future.
Building a Resilient Treasury
The key strength of treasury is in resilience: protecting the business against risk while enabling growth. Treasury leaders may be experiencing more pressure than ever before — but that also means there are more opportunities to add value. By following key principles designed to ensure secure and compliant payments and working with trusted partners to help implement the right framework and processes, treasurers are establishing a platform for success.
Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK Government in March 2022 over alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin – something he has denied.
He was granted a special licence to sell Chelsea following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, providing he could prove he would not benefit from the sale.
The 58-year-old said funds from the sale would be donated via a foundation “for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine”, which would include those in Russia.
The £2.5bn in proceeds have been frozen in a UK bank account since the sale – Abramovich does not have access to the money but it still legally belongs to him.
In 2023, the BBC reported that leaked documents revealed a money trail linking Abramovich to two men dubbed “wallets” of Putin.
BBC Newsnight, BBC Verify and Panorama partnered with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism to uncover the revelations as part of Cyprus Confidential – a global investigation led by reporters at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Paper Trail Media.
Abramovich has previously denied any financial relationship with the Russian leader.
In June, the Government threatened to sue Abramovich to make sure the money from the Chelsea sale goes to Ukrainian humanitarian aid – rather than “all victims of the war in Ukraine” as Abramovich had said.
Two months before selling Chelsea in May 2022, Abramovich was said to have suffered from suspected poisoning at peace talks on the Ukraine-Belarus border.
The Russian billionaire, who made his fortune in oil and gas, was reported to have a role as a broker in talks between Ukraine and Russia.
At the heart of the uproar over allegations that Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers received millions in undisclosed payments from a tree-planting startup is a National Basketball Association rule that caps the the total annual payroll for teams.
According to a report by Pablo Torre of the Athletic, bankruptcy documents show that the tree-planting startup Aspiration Partners paid Leonard $21 million — and still owes him another $7 million — after agreeing to a $28 million contract for endorsement and marketing work at the company.
The report claims there is no evidence to show that Leonard did anything for Aspiration Partners, whose initial funding came in large part from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. Torre alleges that the payment to Leonard was a way to skirt the NBA salary cap and pad his contract.
The Clippers have forcefully denied that they or Ballmer “circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration.”
Still, the NBA said it was launching an investigation into the matter.
The salary cap is a dollar amount that limits what teams can spend on player payroll. The number is determined based on a percentage of projected income for the upcoming year. In 2024-25, the salary cap was $140.6 million.
The purpose of the cap is to ensure parity, preventing the wealthiest teams from outspending smaller markets to acquire the best players. Teams that exceed the cap must pay luxury tax penalties that grow increasingly severe. Revenues from the tax penalties are then distributed in part to smaller-market teams and in part to teams that do not exceed the salary cap.
The cap was implemented before the 1984-85 season at a mere $3.6 million. Ten years later, it was $15.9 million, and 10 years after that it had risen to $43.9 million. By the 2014-15 season it was $63.1 million.
The biggest spike came before the 2016-2017 season when it jumped to $94 million because of an influx of revenue from a new nine-year, $24 billion media rights deal with ESPN and TNT.
Salary cap rules negotiated between the NBA and the players’ union are spelled out in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Proven incidents of teams circumventing the cap are few, with a violation by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2000 serving as the most egregious.
The Timberwolves made a secret agreement with free agent and former No. 1 overall draft pick Joe Smith, signing him to a succession of below-market one-year deals in order to enable the team to go over the cap with a huge contract ahead of the 2001-2002 season.
The NBA voided his contract, fined the Timberwolves $3.5 million, and stripped them of five first-round draft picks — two of which were later returned. Also, owner Glen Taylor and general manager Kevin McHale were suspended.
Then-NBA commissioner David Stern told the Minnesota Star-Tribune at the time: “What was done here was a fraud of major proportions. There were no fewer than five undisclosed contracts tightly tucked away, in the hope that they would never see the light of day. … The magnitude of this offense was shocking.”
Current commissioner Adam Silver is just as adamant as Stern when it comes to enforcing salary cap rules, although the current CBA limits punishment.
According to Article 13 of the CBA, if the Clippers were found to have circumvented the cap, it would be a first offense punishable by a $4.5 million fine, one first-round draft pick, and voiding of Leonard’s contract. However, the Clippers don’t have a first-round pick until 2027.
Leonard, one of the Clippers stars, is extremely well compensated. He will have been paid $375,772,011 by NBA teams through the upcoming season, according to industry expert spotrac.com.
A former Aspiration finance department employee whose voice was disguised on Torre’s podcast said that when they noticed the shockingly large fee paid to Leonard, they were told that, “If I had any questions about it, essentially don’t, because it was to circumvent the salary cap, LOL. There was lots of LOL when things were shared.”
Aspiration Partners was a digital bank that promoted socially responsible spending and investments that, at one point, brought in a star-filled roster of investors that included Drake, Robert Downey Jr., and Leonardo DiCaprio. Founded in 2013, it offered investments in “conscious coalition” companies and offered carbon credits to businesses. The company was valued it at $2.3 million at one point.
But in August, the company’s co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, agreed to plead guilty to charges that he defrauded investors and lenders. Federal prosecutors accused Sanberg of causing more than $248 million in losses, calling him a “fraudster.”
Prosecutors alleged that Sanberg and another member of the company’s board, Ibrahim AlHusseini, fraudulently obtained $145 million in loans by promising shares from Sanberg’s stock in the company. AlHusseini allegedly falsified records to inflate his assets to obtain the loans, and Sanberg concealed from investigators that he was the source for revenue that was recognized by the company.
Sanberg had also recruited companies and individuals to claim they would be paying tens of thousands of dollars to have trees planted, but instead Sanberg used legal entities under his control to hide that he was making these payments, not the customers.
Aspiration, which was partially funded by Ballmer with a $50 million investment, filed for bankruptcy in March.
The company was expected to pay more than $300 million over two decades as a sponsor for the Clippers’ Intuit Dome, which opened in August 2024. But before the new arena opened, the Clippers said Aspiration was no longer a sponsor, just as the Justice Department and Commodity Futures Trading Commission began looking into allegations that Aspiration had misled customers and investors.
During Aspiration’s bankruptcy proceedings, documents emerged citing KL2 Aspire as a creditor owed $7 million, one of four yearly payments of that amount agreed upon in a 2022 contract. KL2 is a limited liability company that names Leonard — whose jersey number is 2 — as its manager.
Aspiration was partially funded by a $50-million investment from Ballmer. It is not known whether Ballmer was aware of or played a role in facilitating the employment agreement between Aspiration and Leonard.
The Clippers issued a lengthy statement Thursday, attempting to explain why Leonard being paid by Aspiration was unrelated to his contract with the Clippers.
“There is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing endorsement deals with players on the same team,” the statement said in part. “Neither Steve nor the Clippers organization had any oversight of Kawhi’s independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration. To say otherwise is flat-out wrong.”
“The Clippers take NBA compliance extremely seriously, fully respect the league’s rules, and welcome its investigation related to Aspiration.”
In his reporting, Torre noted that Leonard’s contract with Aspiration included an unusual clause that said the company could terminate the endorsement agreement if Leonard was no longer a member of the Clippers.
Mark Cuban, part owner of the Dallas Mavericks, took to X.com to suggest that Torre’s reporting was faulty.
‘I’m on Team Ballmer,” Cuban wrote. “As much as I wish they circumvented the salary cap, First Steve isn’t that dumb. If he did try to feed KL money, knowing what was at stake for him personally, and his team, do you think he would let the company go bankrupt ? “
WHEN it comes to online payment methods, few are as instantly recognisable as PayPal. The popular ewallet is used for everything from eBay sales to subscription services, and it has become the ewallet of choice for thousands of online gamblers.
If you are struggling to decide which PayPal casino in the UK is the best for you, you have come to the right place. In this guide, we have applied our Sun Factor ratings to some of the biggest PayPal casinos in the UK and created a handy list of the best ones for you to use.
We have analysed their game catalogues, bonuses, mobile use, and more. This guide also explores the pros and cons of using PayPal at online casinos and some of the service’s best features.
Best PayPal casino sites
🔎 A closer look at the top 10 PayPal casinos in the UK
PayPal is one of the most widely used e-wallets in the UK, and, as such, there are countless online casinos that allow you to deposit using the service. However, not all casinos are created equal, and our dedicated team of casino experts has selected the following as the top ten best online casinos in the UK that accept PayPal.
1. Casumo
Minimum PayPal deposit: £10
Minimum PayPal withdrawal: £10
Casumo is an extremely popular casino with UK players, and for good reason. The site serves up over 1,500 games for players to try their luck at, the bulk of which are online slots from some of the industry’s biggest names.
A big selling point for me is Casumo’s ease of use. The site has a smooth sign-up method and allows players to deposit and withdraw from £10. In my experience, PayPal withdrawals on the site are extremely convenient, and the service can be used to claim bonuses. Casumo’s welcome offer is a generous £100 bonus, with 50 bonus spins on top.
2. Betfred
Minimum PayPal deposit: £5
Minimum PayPal withdrawal: £5
Betfred might be a site best known for its betting options, but it also packs a serious punch as an online casino. The site is home to over 2,000 games, working alongside industry standard-bearers like Pragmatic Play, Evolution, and Play’n Go.
A variety of games are on offer at Betfred, with the site offering slots, live casino, table games, and more. There is also a regularly updated selection of promotions, all of which can be claimed using PayPal. The Betfred welcome bonus helps you get stuck into the site, giving out 200 free spins on selected slots.
3. BetMGM
Minimum PayPal deposit: £5
Minimum PayPal withdrawal: £5
As a big fan of BetMGM in the States, I was excited to see the brand make its way to the UK in 2023, and it certainly lived up to its promise. The site is as stylishly designed as you would expect, and it works with many of the industry’s top names, offering huge jackpots, exclusive titles, and more.
The live casino section here is superb, with some games being broadcast to players live from Las Vegas. Of course, BetMGM is a brand renowned for its loyalty programs and bonuses, and this all starts with a £200 match bonus and 100 free spins you will receive when you make your first deposit.
4. SpinzWin
Minimum PayPal deposit: £10
Minimum PayPal withdrawal: £10
SpinzWin has been on the UK market since 2016 and has established itself as a popular choice for UK PayPal players. The site appeals to me for many reasons, not least of which is its impressive slot selection, with over 850 titles to choose from. It also has an impressive Megaways collection and is regularly featured as part of network progressive jackpots.
SpinzWin also serves up one of the best multi-part welcome packages around, offering 50 free spins on your first deposit, followed by 25% up to £200, 50% up to £200, and 50% up to £600 on your next three. Finally, on your fifth deposit, you can get another 50 free spins, this time to use on Play’n Go’s iconic Book of Dead.
5. Mr Vegas
Minimum PayPal deposit: £10
Minimum PayPal withdrawal: £10
When it comes to bonuses and regular promotions, Mr Vegas is one of my top choices in the UK. The site has a massive selection of games, with over 8,000 to choose from, making it one of the best PayPal casinos in the UK for online slots. These are complemented perfectly by features such as the Wheel of Vegas, allowing players to win exclusive jackpots on each spin.
I’m also a big fan of the site’s stylish black and green colour scheme, which is very easy on the eyes and makes for a smooth customer experience. Top this off with a good range of payment methods and a welcome bonus worth up to £200, and you’ve got a winning combination.
6. VideoSlots
Minimum PayPal deposit: £10
Minimum PayPal withdrawal: £10
With a name like VideoSlots, it would be a surprise if a huge game catalogue wasn’t the order of the day here, and the site certainly lives up to that billing. With over 9,000 games in its catalogue, VideoSlots has quickly become my go-to site for online slots, especially those that are tough to find elsewhere.
The site is more than just its mammoth games catalogue, though. It also features a generous welcome bonus of up to £200 for new customers, as well as a plethora of jackpot titles and regularly updated promotions, all of which can be claimed using PayPal.
7. PokerStars
Minimum PayPal deposit: £5
Minimum PayPal withdrawal: £5
It would be easy to dismiss PokerStars as a site solely dedicated to poker action, but you would be doing so at your own peril. The site has a stacked online slot selection, featuring titles from the likes of Blueprint Gaming, Hacksaw, and more. It is also home to one of the most unique live casino catalogues in the UK, with exclusive blackjack and roulette titles available.
It also tempts players in with a hugely generous welcome bonus worth up to £500 when they use the promo code FIRST500. The site will also chuck in 50 free spins for good measure.
8. Duelz
Minimum PayPal deposit: £10
Minimum PayPal withdrawal: £10
If you want a site with a little more pizzazz, then Duelz could be the operator for you. The site has a unique fantasy theme that makes you feel like you have been dropped in a casino in the middle of Clash of Clans. The site is more than just its wacky theme though, with players being able to try their luck on over 2,000 games.
One thing I love about Duelz is how the site has managed to incorporate its theme into so many different areas, with the unique quests and promotions keeping players coming back for more. It also welcomes new players with a generous £100 bonus and 100 free spins to be used on Book of Dead, all of which can be claimed by making a real money PayPal deposit.
9. Virgin Games
Minimum PayPal deposit: £10
Minimum PayPal withdrawal: £10
Virgin is an internationally recognised brand, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that its online casino, Virgin Games, offers a high-quality online playing experience. I found the site’s game variety to be one of its biggest attractions, with the online bingo and Slingo sections helping it stand out from other top UK online PayPal casinos.
It is a fantastic site for pursuing big wins and jackpots, and it offers a smooth customer experience to back this up. Players can deposit funds with a range of methods, and the site also offers instant withdrawals and 24/7 customer support.
10. Betrino
Minimum PayPal deposit: £10
Minimum PayPal withdrawal: £10
Finally, wrapping up our list of the best PayPal casinos in the UK is Betrino. This is a site that was first brought to my attention last year. It is owned and operated by ProgressPlay, a company with a reputation for creating top-quality casinos, and Betrino reinforces that. The site allows players to deposit and withdraw with a range of methods, including PayPal, PayviaPhone, Visa/Mastercard, and more, and boasts an impressive games lobby.
If you are new to the site, you can claim a welcome bonus of 200% up to £50 with your first deposit. After that, you can continue to claim other regular promotions, including a cashback weekends offer and a midweek spin of a bonus wheel.
🤔 How to use PayPal at an online casino
PayPal is one of the most popular payment methods for online casino players in the UK, and one of the biggest reasons for that is how easy the service is to use. I’ve personally been using PayPal to play at online casinos for over a decade, and have always found it one of the most reliable services on the net. If you want to use PayPal at a UK online casino, you can begin by following these steps.
1. How to make a PayPal account
Before you play at an online casino using PayPal, you are going to need to set up a PayPal account. This is an easy process that takes a matter of minutes. To begin, visit the PayPal site or download the casino app from the Google Play or App Store.
The first question PayPal will ask is whether you want to open a business or a personal account. For most players, it will be a personal account.
You will then be required to enter your email address and phone number. Once you have done this and verified both, your account will be active. The next step is to link your bank account to your PayPal profile, which will allow you to store cash and make deposits and withdrawals.
2. How to sign up for a PayPal casino
Now you have a PayPal account, the next step is to sign up with a PayPal casino. You can follow these steps:
Choose a PayPal casino from the ones listed in this guide.
Click on the registration button and begin the sign-up process. If required, make sure you enter any bonus codes needed to claim the casino’s welcome bonus.
Provide any personal information the casino asks for. This is typically an email, phone number, and address. You will also need to enter your password.
Verify your account details and complete the registration process.
3. How to deposit with PayPal
Once your casino is set up, you can head to the cashier and make your first deposit using PayPal.
When you click on the PayPal option, a separate window will open prompting you to log in to your PayPal account.
Enter your login details and verify your account.
You will then return to the casino and can enter the amount you would like to deposit and complete the transaction.
You will not need to enter any of your bank details at the casino.
4. How to withdraw funds with PayPal
If you are lucky enough to have landed some wins at a PayPal UK casino, then you will need to be able to withdraw them safely and quickly.
To withdraw using PayPal, head to the cashier, click withdraw, and then choose PayPal as your method.
You may need to verify your PayPal account depending on your settings.
Players should know that they can only use PayPal for a withdrawal if it was previously used for a deposit.
The speed of the withdrawal will depend on how quickly the casino processes the request.
Choosing the best PayPal casinos is no easy process. Our team has a dedicated set of criteria we apply to each casino review, known as ‘The Sun Factor’. The following are some of the most important factors considered when reviewing a PayPal casino.
Welcome bonus: You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and this is something online casinos in the UK understand better than anybody. When we are deciding which PayPal casinos to recommend, we always pay close attention to the welcome bonus, being sure to check its terms and conditions and wagering requirements. Of course, the size of the bonus also plays a huge role.
Ongoing promotions: While a good welcome bonus will get you through the door, the best online casinos are the ones that reward you for sticking around. When reviewing PayPal casinos, we check their ongoing promotions and how frequently they are updated. Our Sun Factor review system also rewards casinos for being innovative and offering different bonus types to their customers.
Licensing: All of the PayPal casinos we recommend at The Sun are licensed and regulated by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. The UKGC is one of the most respected gambling regulators in the world, and by holding a license from them, a casino is displaying to its customers that their well-being and security are a priority.
Mobile compatibility: Mobile gameplay is an essential part of the modern online casino experience, and we test every casino we recommend on an Android and iOS device. Where possible, we also review a casino’s mobile app.
Customer support: Having access to around-the-clock customer support can make a big difference to an online casino player. As such, when we review an online casino, we will to see what customer support options it has, as well as the availability hours.
Available payment methods: While we are focused on PayPal in this guide, variety is the spice of life, and it is always good for players to have alternative options. It is not just the methods we factor in, but also the limits and the withdrawal speed.
Game selection: A casino can score high marks in all of the above, but if it does not offer a good range of games, are you really going to want to sign up? When we review a casino, we note not only the number of games available, but also the quality of the developers it works with. We also want to see a diverse range of game types, including slots, live casino, crash games, and more.
👍 Advantages of using PayPal at online casinos
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest advantages of using PayPal to deposit at top online casinos.
Enhanced privacy: PayPal essentially acts as a middleman between players and the casino, which is brilliant for players who are more conscious of their online privacy and security. This means you never have to share your banking details directly with an operator. PayPal also has fantastic security features, with the company utilising the latest in encryption technology to ensure players’ personal information is kept secure.
No fees: In almost all instances, online casinos will not charge you a fee for using PayPal to make a deposit or withdrawal. Players should be aware, however, that PayPal may charge a fee when you attempt to transfer funds from your PayPal account to your bank account.
Well-established and trusted brand: PayPal is a globally recognised brand with a glowing reputation worldwide. The company has been in operation for nearly three decades, and it has managed to maintain its position as the world’s most popular e-wallet for a reason.
Widely available: PayPal is available at many of the UK’s top online casinos, making it an extremely attractive proposition for players who have accounts with multiple casinos.
Easy to use: Setting up, depositing and withdrawing with PayPal is an extremely easy process. The service is available on desktop, mobile, and as an app, and is known for its user-friendly interface and ease of use.
Speedy transactions: While other methods are now catching up, one of the reasons PayPal became so popular among casino players is the speed of its transactions. In many instances, players can withdraw funds from an online casino in less than 24 hours and in some cases, instantly.
👎 Disadvantages of using PayPal
As with any payment method, there are also some downsides to using PayPal at online casinos in the UK. While the good considerably outweighs these, it is still important to make you aware of some of the bigger issues you might encounter using a PayPal casino.
Bonus exclusion: While it is not as commonly restricted from casino bonuses as other payment methods like Skrill and Neteller, it is not unheard of for PayPal deposits to be excluded from welcome bonuses and other promotions. As such, make sure you read through the terms & conditions of any bonuses before claiming to see if PayPal is eligible.
PayPal fees: As I’ve already addressed in this UK PayPal casino guide, it is uncommon for a casino to charge you for using PayPal to make a deposit or a withdrawal. However, PayPal commonly has charges for withdrawing funds to your bank account.
🔒 Security at online casinos with PayPal
For many players, one of the biggest selling points of PayPal is that it is so secure. The service utilises many modern security features, each of which is designed to ensure customers are kept safe when playing at online casinos or using the service for other reasons. The following are some of its key features:
Data encryption: PayPal uses advanced encryption technology to ensure players’ personal and financial details are kept safe from third-parties.
Fraud detection software: PayPal uses advanced fraud-detection technology to alert customers if suspicious activities are taking place on their accounts.
Two-Factor Authentication: Two-factor authentication (2FA) has become one of the most widespread security measures across the internet in recent years. When this is turned on, players will need to enter their password and another piece of information to be able to access their account. This is typically a verification code sent to your phone or email address.
PayPal also offer buyer protection, which protects customers to open a disputes regarding purchases and get refunds. However, this is not available for use at online casinos.
🎰 PayPal features relevant to online gambling
PayPal offers many features that are extremely useful to online gamblers. Let’s break them down and see how they are relevant to online gambling:
Instant transfer: This one is pretty self-explanatory. The quicker you can get your funds in and out of a casino, the better. Instant transfers allow you to deposit funds instantly and be playing your favourite online slots within a matter of seconds.
Cross device access: As I’ve already mentioned in this guide to the UK’s best PayPal casinos, PayPal is available on different devices and platforms, adding an extra level of convenience to the online gambling experience. PayPal is supported on desktop and mobile devices, and also has a mobile app that can be downloaded for free on the Google Play Store and the App Store.
Multiple currency support: While this is not generally needed for online casinos in the UK, it can be useful to use if you have another currency in your PayPal account and you want to convert it before depositing at a UK online casino.
Linked bank/card fallback: A handy feature at PayPal that provides customers with some assurances is the bank/card fallback. Essentially, if you attempt to make a deposit from your account and there is not enough money, it will look to your other funding source to ensure you can cover the deposit. So if you attempt to deposit £10 and your PayPal account only has £8, it will take £2 from your bank account if that is the primary linked source.
🪙 Deposit fees and other costs when using PayPal
In almost all instances, UK online casinos will not charge players a fee for using PayPal to make deposits or withdrawals on their site. I would, however, recommend you read through all of the terms & conditions of an individual site before you attempt to deposit or withdraw using PayPal, or reach out to the customer support team to be on the safe side.
Players should be aware, however, that PayPal will charge you a fee for making an instant transfer from your PayPal account back to your bank account. This is typically a percentage of the withdrawal amount, and is currently 1%.
💳 Alternative payment methods to PayPal
For many players, PayPal reigns supreme as the best e-wallet service for depositing and withdrawing funds at online casinos. It is not, however, the only one available. The following are the most popular alternative methods you will encounter:
Visa/Mastercard debit cards: Debit cards are by far the most popular way to deposit and withdraw funds from online casinos. Accessibility and ease of use continue to be the driving factors behind this, with everyone having access to a bank account. It is important to note that UK players can not make a deposit using a credit card.
Apple Pay and Google Pay: If you are a mobile casino player, there’s a good chance you use Apple Pay or Google Pay regularly. These are virtual wallets that allow you to make instant deposits and withdrawals from your bank account.
Skrill: Skrill is arguably the second-most popular e-wallet in the UK and is available at many top UK casinos. The service is not quite as popular as PayPal, largely due to PayPal’s wider availability, and it is often excluded from bonuses and promotions. Still, it remains a solid choice for those looking for alternative payment methods.
Neteller: Like Skrill, Neteller is another popular e-wallet that has become increasingly common at top online casinos. It offers a good alternative to PayPal, but is also regularly excluded from bonuses.
PaysafeCard: PaysafeCard is a pre-paid service that customers can use to deposit funds at top online casinos. The service is one of the safest and most private on the internet, but it is regularly excluded from promotions and can not be used for withdrawals.
Conclusion: Why choose PayPal for online gambling?
As you can see throughout this guide, there are many perks to using PayPal to play at top online casinos in the UK. Not only is it one of the most available methods for depositing and withdrawing real money, but it is also one of the safest and easiest to use. It is also available on mobile and desktop devices, making it one of the best all-around payment service providers to use at UK casinos.
Q&A about PayPal casino sites in the UK
1. What is a PayPal casino site?
A PayPal casino site is a site that allows players to deposit and withdraw funds using PayPal.
2. Are PayPal casino transactions secure?
Yes. PayPal uses the latest encryption technology to ensure all transactions made through the service are 100% secure.
3. How fast are PayPal withdrawals at online casinos?
PayPal itself will process withdrawals within 24 hours, and, in many cases, these withdrawals can be instant. The speed the casino processes the withdrawal request will vary depending on the casino.
4. Do I need to verify my PayPal account to use it at casinos?
Yes. You will need to have your PayPal account set up and verified before you can use it to deposit at an online casino.
5. Are there any fees when using PayPal at casino sites?
No. In almost all cases, casinos will not charge you for making a deposit or withdrawal using PayPal. However, you should check the terms & conditions of a casino before using it if you have any concerns.
About the author
James Anderson
James Anderson is a Betting & Gaming Writer at The Sun. He is an expert in sports betting and online casinos, and joined the company in November 2020 to work closely with leading bookmakers and online gaming companies to curate content in all areas of sports betting. He previously worked as a Digital Sports Reporter and Head of Live Blogs/Events at the Daily Express and Daily Star, covering football, cricket, snooker, F1 and horse racing.
For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.
WASHINGTON — Alana Voechting, a 27-year-old nursing student, had never heard of Klarna when she noticed its bright pink logo while checking out at Sephora.com with $165 in skin care products.
Mounting medical debts from chronic health conditions left Voechting with money problems, so she was thrilled to learn the app would allow her to break the purchase price into four installments over six weeks — with no interest, fees or credit inquiries to ding her already subpar credit score.
“It’s like your brain thinks, ‘Oh, I’m getting this product for cheap,’ because you really only look at that first payment, and after that you kind of forget about it,” she said. “So psychologically, it feels like you’re spending so much less when you’re not.”
Soon Voechting began regularly using not just Klarna but also similar services, including Quadpay and Affirm, to buy makeup, clothing, airline tickets and expensive lounge wear she acknowledged she “would not have purchased otherwise.”
Voechting is one of millions of young Americans with scant or subprime credit histories who are using so-called buy-now-pay-later apps every month.
The smartphone-based services are an updated version of the old layaway plan, except users can do it all on their phones and — most appealingly — get their purchase immediately rather than having to wait until they’ve paid for it.
The companies act as intermediaries between retailers and consumers, making most of their profit by charging merchants 2% to 8% of the purchase price, similar to the retailer fees levied by credit card companies.
The apps are taking off among millennials and Generation Z consumers attracted by the ability to bypass traditional credit cards and still delay payments with no interest.
Retailers such as Macy’s and H&M have jumped to partner with the services, which soared in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Roughly 42% of Americans report using the apps at least once, according to a Credit Karma survey from February.
U.S. regulators are taking a wait-and-see approach, saying they don’t want to stifle a new financial product that could help consumers who might otherwise fall into predatory lending schemes.
But regulators in Europe and Australia, where many of the companies first launched, are increasingly concerned the apps are extending credit irresponsibly.
Using celebrities such as A$AP Rocky and Keke Palmer to portray the services as a hip alternative to the “gotcha” fine print of credit cards, the apps could promote overborrowing in a generation already struggling with high debt and poor credit, consumer advocates warn.
And despite claims that users’ credit ratings won’t be affected and that there are no hidden fees, experts say consumers can still face late charges, overdraft fees and debt collection. Some apps, such as Quadpay, charge a $1 transaction fee on every payment made, regardless of the amount.
“It sounds too good to be true, and it is, in many ways, because there are perils for people who use this,” said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog.
The apps offer different repayment options, but the most common links to a user’s debit card and makes automatic withdrawals every two weeks. Problems quickly arise when there is not enough money in the account, potentially resulting in charges by both the user’s bank and the app.
Voechting said that for the most part she has been able to control her spending and keep track of when her payments will be withdrawn, a challenge when dealing with multiple purchases and multiple apps.
But this year, she missed a payment with Quadpay on a $120 order from Beautycounter because she failed to change her payment information in the app after receiving a new debit card.
Sixty days later, she was informed the installment would go to collections unless she paid off the full remaining balance of $54, plus a $10 late fee. Voechting promptly gathered the money, fearing more damage to her credit.
Services boast that users’ activity and debt are not regularly reported to major credit bureaus. That’s appealing to consumers under pressure or already cut off from traditional lenders.
But not reporting on-time payments also means that users don’t see their credit scores increase as they demonstrate a track record of responsible borrowing, a crucial hurdle for younger consumers.
And the apps may report missed or late payments for some payment plans, which can hurt users’ credit scores, according to a clause buried deep in terms and conditions agreements for Quadpay, Affirm and Klarna.
The Credit Karma survey found about 38% of buy-now-pay-later customers had missed at least one payment, and 72% of those users reported seeing their credit score drop afterward, though many factors can cause fluctuations.
Buy-now-pay-later users also don’t benefit from many protections applied to credit cards.
For instance, if a credit card company refuses to offer credit to a potential customer, it must disclose why the application was declined. No such rules apply to the apps, which authorize every purchase on a case-by-case basis. That means users have no assurance a transaction will be approved.
“They don’t know what the issue is,” said Angela Hunt, 31, of Hampton, Va., part of a Facebook group devoted to Klarna, in which members frequently complain they are denied approval for purchases in a seemingly random manner.
App users also don’t enjoy the same billing-dispute protections they would with other payment methods, so returning merchandise, resolving fraudulent charges and requesting refunds can be difficult.
In January, Brittany Conn, 30, was moving into a new apartment in Melbourne, Fla., and used Klarna on Wayfair to buy a bed frame, headboard and bookcase for $450.
The bookcase never arrived, so she reached out to Klarna to get a partial refund. Multiple agents promised a supervisor would contact her, but the call never came. When she tried to publicly request help on Klarna’s Facebook page, she said, her comments were deleted.
If Conn had made her purchase with a credit card, the lender would have been forced to respond immediately, launch an investigation and explain its final determination within two billing cycles. During the process, she would be entitled to withhold payment on the disputed amount.
It took Conn, who works in customer service, nearly two months and many emails and online chats to get her money back. She filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
“It was just an uphill battle, just email after email and chat after chat, and it got to a point where my chats weren’t being answered anymore,” she said.
According to the Better Business Bureau, Klarna — the largest buy-now-pay-later app in the U.S. with 15 million customers in 2020 — received 676 complaints in the last 12 months.
Quadpay received 979. Affirm had 227, and Afterpay and Sezzle saw more than 100 complaints each.
By comparison, Discover, a well-established credit card brand with more than 55 million customers, saw 532 complaints with the Better Business Bureau in the same period.
The rise in users — and complaints — has brought more scrutiny to the apps.
Credit card giant Capital One barred its customers worldwide last year from linking its cards to fund buy-now-pay-later purchases, citing the lack of consumer protections.
Class-action lawsuits in California, Connecticut and New York allege plaintiffs suffered from large bank overdraft fees due to automatic withdrawals, undisclosed late fees and deceptive marketing.
Consumer complaints prompted regulators in other countries to crack down. Sweden enacted a law last year that bans online checkout portals from making the apps the default payment option.
Australian financial experts wrote a report in November that found 20% of app users surveyed “cut back on or went without essentials” to make their payments on time. The United Kingdom released a nearly 70-page report in February concluding that “urgent and timely” regulatory changes were needed.
U.S. regulators say they are aware of the services but are exercising caution.
“We’re really interested in use cases of buy-now-pay-later where perhaps a consumer that would otherwise go to a payday lender and pay a very high cost for a loan might be able to use it,” said John McNamara, principal assistant director of markets at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
In July, the CFPB released a blog post titled “Should you buy now and pay later?” warning consumers that the apps can charge late fees, report to credit bureaus and do not offer the same protections as other credit products.
Laura Udis, who manages installment loan programs at the CFPB, said the apps are subject to the Dodd-Frank act, passed in 2010 after the subprime mortgage crisis to prevent unfair, deceptive and abusive practices by lenders. She said the law “should be flexible enough to apply to any particular credit situation, including new innovations like buy-now-pay-later.”
But the services have found loopholes in regulation.
For instance, the Truth in Lending Act, which requires lenders disclose the terms and costs of services, states that payment plans of fewer than five installments are not subject to ad disclosure requirements as long as they avoid certain terms.
Consumer advocates say that explains why many apps are structured as four installments. And the companies help merchants avoid terminology that would trigger greater disclosures.
Affirm offers its merchant partners a guide. Quadpay has a variety of promotions for merchants to download that won’t trigger disclosures.
An advertisement for Afterpay and United Kingdom-based retailer Boohoo at a company-sponsored party.
(Caroline McCredie / Getty Images )
An Affirm spokesperson said the company provides information to users at checkout, including disclosures that would be required by the Truth in Lending Act, to ensure customers are informed. A Quadpay spokesperson said the company makes “every effort to help consumers by providing fair, flexible and transparent payment terms.”
Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Assn. of Consumer Advocates, said it may take time for regulators to sort out how lending laws apply to the services, and whether new ones are needed.
“I think there are different ways that regulators can deal with them,” he said. “And I think that there’s some places where they’ll be far behind and some places where they won’t be.”
Lawmakers show no signs of getting involved. Spokespeople for multiple congressional committees said they were not considering regulating the apps.
California’s regulators are among the few U.S. watchdogs that have taken substantive actions against the services. In 2019, the state’s Department of Business Oversight, now the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, sued Sezzle,Afterpay,Quadpay and Klarna for making illegal loans.
Each of the companies ultimately settled and had to get licensed, refund fees collected from Californians and pay fines.
“Today, the buy-now-pay-later companies we license in California are required to take into consideration a borrower’s ability to repay the loan and are subject to strict rate and fee caps,” department spokesperson Maria Luisa Cesar said.
As regulators and lawmakers determine how best to keep up with the growth of the apps, their popularity endures. Voechting, Hunt and Conn all said they will continue to use them.
“It’s kind of nice to be able to say, ‘Oh, you know, I can’t afford to buy this right upfront, but I can split it up into four payments and afford it that way,’” Conn said.
Before the apps, Conn would spend weeks saving money for special purchases. The apps allow her to get products immediately.
HomeAwardsWinner InsightsAndreea Parneci, Societe Generale: Navigating The Instant Payments Revolution
Andreea Parneci, Deputy Head of Global Transaction and Payment Services at Societe Generale, which won Best Bank for Transaction Banking, explains how the bank is addressing the new regulatory requirements and building a unified global transaction banking model.
Global Finance: What are the most critical challenges facing treasury and cash management operations, and how is Societe Generale helping clients prepare for them?
Andreea Parneci: Globally, regulatory changes, particularly instant payments, are a significant challenge. The European Instant Payments Regulation mandated banks to receive these payments by January 2025 and initiate them by October 2025, requiring substantial technical and operational upgrades for both financial institutions and corporates. ISO 20022 harmonization is also a major step for global interoperability in streamlining operations and enhancing data quality. We support our clients so they can understand the coming challenges, anticipate the impacts, and adapt smoothly to turn constraints into opportunities.
In a faster and ever more digital world, fraud prevention has become even more critical. This has always been a key element for Societe Generale; we dedicate substantial resources to help protect our clients, leveraging AI and an exchange platform with digital signatures and advanced authentication. Finally, in a changing world, transitioning their business model remains a point of focus for our clients, with GTB [global transaction banking] solutions supporting their ESG strategy.
GF: How has your unified GTB strategy enhanced the efficiency of your treasury and cash management services for multinational clients?
Parneci: We currently support clients in over 40 countries. While acknowledging local specificities and regulations, our goal is to be the leading partner, providing consistent service and a comprehensive global solution across all GTB services, including cash management, trade finance, cash clearing, and supply chain finance.
Our objective is to address the full spectrum of our clients’ needs through a holistic lens, on a day-to-day basis. We also collaboratively develop solutions and shape the future of transaction banking with and for our clients. This needs-based approach is consistently well-received and mutually beneficial.
GF: What does it take to provide a seamless client experience?
Parneci: We empower our teams to deliver this approach by enhancing their skills and leveraging their extensive experience within the GTB world. Significant effort was dedicated to change management, particularly in training and recruiting, which has proven to be a highly positive development. This fosters valuable client interaction and expertise for Societe Generale staff.
In the current landscape, digital innovation and a seamless user experience are paramount. We prioritize offering numerous services and products that streamline processes and save time We have also implemented a comprehensive digital web interface, SG Markets, a global platform we share with clients that significantly improves efficiency and mitigates operational risks.
GF: How is Societe Generale leveraging its real-time capabilities to enhance its core cash management and cross-border payment offerings?
Parneci: We began our journey in instant payments as a pioneer in France in 2019, extended to Europe in 2021, and have worked since then, hand in hand with our clients, to develop a comprehensive set of APIs.
These include instant services and clearing system representation, which is instrumental in achieving our goal of a first-rate technical infrastructure capable of handling very large volumes and 24/7/365 monitoring/assistance. For instance, we offer our FX-BORDER API for 40 currencies from a single account, with FX rates in a few minutes, enhancing transparency and instant payment solutions.
While instant payments accelerate transactions, they also introduce risks and challenges for our clients. We provide advisory services, dedicated client support, implementation guidance, training, and webinars and workshops to ensure our clients adapt smoothly and turn constraints into opportunities.
The proximity and our capacity to assist our clients throughout their individual instant payment journey distinctly differentiates us. We believe this is how we can have a real impact and put the best of innovation at the service of our clients.
State Pension (including Graduated Retirement Benefit)
Severe Disablement Allowance (transitionally protected)
Unemployability Supplement or Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
War Disablement Pension at State Pension age
War Widow’s Pension
Widowed Mother’s Allowance
Widowed Parent’s Allowance
Widow’s Pension
If you’re part of a married couple, in a civil partnership or live together, you’ll both get the cash bonus – as long as you both are eligible.
If you or your partner do not get one of the above qualifying benefits, then they could still get the bonus if they are over the state pension age by the end of the qualifying week.
Winter Fuel payment
The Winter Fuel Payment is made every year to help cover the cost of energy over the colder months.
It has been changed in recent months so that fewer can claim.
However, the cash boost, worth up to £300, is still valuable for those who quality – particularly those on Pension Credit.
The cash is usually paid in November and December, with some made up until the end of January the following year.
If you haven’t got your payment by then, you need to call the office that pays your benefits.
Households eligible for the payment are usually told via a letter sent in October or November each year.
If you think you meet the criteria, but don’t automatically get the winter fuel payment, you will have to apply on the government’s website.
The Child Winter Heating Assistance
If you’re based in Scotland, you could receive a child winter heating assistance payment of £255.80.
You get child winter heating payment for a child or young person under 19 who lives in Scotland and who is entitled to:
the highest rate of the care component of child disability payment (CDP) or disability living allowance (DLA), or
the enhanced rate of the daily living component of adult disability payment (ADP) or personal independence payment (PIP).
They must be entitled to the relevant disability benefit during the ‘qualifying week’, which is the week beginning on the third Monday in September (w/c Septmber 15 in 2025).
You do not have to make a claim for the payment, but it should be paid by Social Security Scotland, usually in November.
If you think you’re entitled but have not received payment by the end of December, you should contact Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222.
Warm Home Discount
The Warm Home Discount is an automatic £150 discount off energy bills.
As the money is a discount, there is no money paid to you, but you’ll get the payment automatically if your electricity supplier is part of the scheme and you qualify.
You’ll have to be in receipt of one of the following benefits to qualify for one of the payments:
If you don’t claim any of the above benefits, you won’t be eligible for the payment.
Cold Weather payment
Cold weather payments are dished out when temperatures are recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees or below, on average, for seven consecutive days between November 1 and March 31.
Eligible Brits are then given extra money to help heat their homes.
You get £25 for each seven-day period where the weather is below zero Celsius on average during this time frame.
You can check if your area has had a cold weather payment by popping your postcode into the government’s tool on its website.
You’ll need to be on certain benefits to qualify, which are:
Student maintenance loans are paid to university students to help cover living costs such as rent.
They are usually paid at the start of each new term, so you typically receive three payments a year.
Maintenance Loans are paid straight into your student bank account in three (almost) equal instalments throughout the year.
The amount you will receive depends on where in the UK you’re from, whether you’ll be living at home or not, your household income and how long you’re studying for.
The average Maintenance Loan is approximately £6,116 a year.
Are you missing out on benefits?
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to
Entitledto’s free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
The money saving guru has settle the debate on what currency you should pay in when you’re overseas – and it appears that many people have been making a costly mistake
Martin Lewis has shared what currency you should pay in when you’re on holiday (stock)(Image: Getty Images)
Martin Lewis has finally weighed in on the age-old holiday conundrum, revealing whether it’s wiser to pay in pounds or local currency on your credit card abroad. Sharing his expert advice with BBC audiences, he unravelled the mystery, advising on the best payment method to save money while jetting off.
Martin advised: “When you go abroad and you pay on plastic [card] and the overseas cash machine or shop asks you: ‘Do you want to pay in pounds or euros?’ What do you do? Well, the correct answer is you should always pay in euros or whatever the local currency is. That means it’s your plastic that’s doing the exchange rate conversion, not the overseas shop or ATM.”
He emphasised that this holds true globally.
Social media users chimed in with their tips and personal experiences too. One user suggested: “Just get Revolut or Monzo.”
Another declared: “I use Starling Bank it has no fees abroad and recommends paying in the local currency instead of pounds. Something I saw online about dynamic exchange rate and it can cost you more otherwise.”
A third added: “Revolut has always been the best on doing this, can exchange right in the app a swell, and when withdrawing it’ll just take it straight from that, half the time the only fee is the cash fee by the machine you use.”
Meanwhile, a recent traveller shared their experience: “Just back from Spain and not a single ATM did free cash withdrawals either, thankfully that’s all I was charged with my Chase account.”
One savvy traveller remarked: “I just get euros before I go anywhere save all the hassle, and if I’m really stuck for cash go into an actual bank on holiday and withdraw money on my card.”
This tip follows the advice from a money-saving guru who emphasised the urgency to secure travel insurance ‘ASAB’.
While speaking on This Morning, the financial expert shared, “My travel insurance rule is get it ASAB (as soon as you book). People do get a little confused about this, so let’s break it down.”
He went on to instruct: “If you’re getting a single trip policy, so that is a policy to cover just one holiday, then what you do is as soon as you book, you go on one of the travel insurer’s website, you tell it your holiday dates and you buy the policy then.”
Martin Lewis explained that if your holiday is in August and you’ve booked in January, securing your insurance in January is equally important.
“That means you have the travel insurance in place to covers that holiday,” he said, adding: “You don’t need to [cover yourself] for extra dates [in case there’s a delay at the airport] because you have your return date.
“If something delays you, so you weren’t back, that would still be covered because that delay is all part of the travel insurance.”
Paypal announced its partnership agreement with the Big ten and Big 12 conferences that will enable payments from universities to student athletes on Thursday. File Photo by Andrew Gombert/EPA
June 26 (UPI) — PayPal on Thursday announced a partnership agreement with the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences on Thursday, which will enable payments from universities to student-athletes.
PayPal said in a press release that the new model “enables athletic departments to “seamlessly dispense payments through PayPal, ensuring a secure, efficient, and transparent way to distribute funds to payees.”
“From receiving institutional payments to making everyday purchases, we’re helping student-athletes, families, and schools engage in new ways that are modern, secure, and built for the future,” President and CEO of PayPal Alex Chriss said.
Under the deal, the two major college athletic conferences will exclusively make payments to student-athletes through PayPal.
PayPal said the rollout of payments from the college is expected to begin this summer as a court settlement in the House v. NCAA case, which allows schools to pay student-athletes, is set to take effect on July 1.
The settlement allowed schools to pay up to $20.5 million to current athletes over the next year, and $2.8 billion to former players across the NCAA.
“We look forward to partnering with PayPal to ensure a secure, rapid and reliable way for student-athletes to receive institutional payments as we welcome in this new era in college athletics,” said Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti.
“We are thrilled to enter into this landmark partnership with PayPal and Venmo,” said Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark. “As we embark on a new era of college athletics, aligning with a global leader like PayPal will unlock a wealth of opportunities for the Big 12. This partnership will also empower our student-athletes to receive payments through a secure, trusted platform they already know and use.”
Venmo will also be a part of this partnership; the company will allow students to use Venmo at college bookstores and for items such as tickets, concessions, and merchandise.
Venmo is also introducing a new Debit MasterCard for purchases on campus.
That Scottie Scheffler is the prohibitive favorite to win the U.S. Open this week at historic Oakmont Country Club surprises no one. He’s the top-ranked golfer in the world, winning three of his last four starts, including the PGA Championship.
That Scheffler deleted his Venmo account because bettors continually clicked the pay/request link on the mobile payment app and rudely demanded that he reimburse them when he didn’t win probably shouldn’t surprise anyone, either.
“I think everybody hears from fans whether they have a financial benefit or anything in their outcome,” Scheffler told reporters at the U.S. Open on Tuesday. “That’s why I had to get rid of my Venmo, because I was either getting paid by people or people requesting me a bunch of money when I didn’t win. It wasn’t a good feeling.”
Scheffler chuckled nervously when he said it, but athletes getting harassed by folks who lost money betting on their performances isn’t a laughing matter.
Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 struck down a federal law that had prohibited most states from allowing sports betting, abuse toward athletes from bettors who blame them for their financial losses has soared. Gambling on sports is now legal in 39 states.
Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and Boston Red Sox pitcher Liam Hendriks said recently that their families have received death threats on social media.
A man who lost money May 10 when McCullers gave up seven runs while recording only one out in a loss to the Cincinnati Reds threatened to “murder” McCullers’ two young daughters. Police traced the threats to an intoxicated man overseas who had lost money betting on the game.
“I understand people are very passionate and people love the Astros and love sports, but threatening to find my kids and murder them is a little bit tough to deal with,” McCullers said in an understatement. “There have been many, many threats over the years aimed at me mostly … but I think bringing kids into the equation, threatening to find them or next time they see us in public they’re going to stab my kids to death. Things like that are tough to hear as a dad.”
Hendriks posted on his Instagram story that he has received death threats while struggling to regain his form after missing nearly two years because of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Tommy John surgery.
“Threats against my life and my wife’s life are horrible and cruel,” Hendriks wrote. “You need help. Comments telling me to commit suicide and how you wish I died from cancer are disgusting and vile. Maybe you should take a step back and re-evaluate your life’s purpose before hiding behind a screen attacking players and their families.
Hendriks later explained to reporters why he responded on social media.
“With the rise of sports gambling, it’s gotten a lot worse,” he said. “Unfortunately, that tends to be what it ends up being — whether it be Venmo requests, whether it be people telling you in their comments, ‘Hey, you blew my parlay. Go [f—-] yourself,’ kind of stuff.”
Some gamblers believe they can impact the outcomes of competition through harassment. FanDuel banned a man in Philadelphia after he bragged on social media about intimidating three-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas at a Grand Slam Track meet two weeks ago.
“I made Gabby lose by heckling her. And it made my parlay win,” he wrote on a post that included a screenshot of two bets on FanDuel.
Thomas responded by posting, “This grown man followed me around the track as I took pictures and signed autographs for fans (mostly children) shouting personal insults — anybody who enables him online is gross.”
The NCAA is lobbying for states to ban proposition bets on the performances of individual college athletes, saying it creates a temptation to compromise game integrity.
College athletes have long been considered more susceptible to taking money from gamblers than pro athletes because they are amateurs. That will soon change because of the passage last week of the House settlement, a revenue-sharing model that will allow universities to directly pay athletes up to $20.5 million per year. Not to say paying college athletes will insulate them from disgruntled gamblers. The NCAA will continue to press for laws that could ban bettors from state-licensed sportsbooks if they are found guilty of harassment.
The sheer volume of betting makes policing the harassment and intimidation of athletes an enormous challenge. This year, it was estimated that $3 billion was legally wagered on the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments, according to the American Gaming Association (AGA), an increase of about 10% from 2024.
In an attempt to be proactive about harassment ahead of March Madness, the NCAA posted a public service announcement video titled “Don’t Be a Loser.”
“There’s losing and then there’s being a loser. Game time comes with enough pressure,” the video said. “Way too often, people are betting on sports, losing, and taking it out on the athletes. Only a loser would harass college athletes after losing a bet, but it happens almost every day.
“Root for your team, get crazy when the buzzer sounds, but don’t harass anyone because you lost a bet. It’s time we draw the line and put an end to the abuse.”
Scheffler drew the line by deleting his Venmo account, which had become just another means for gamblers to communicate with a prominent athlete. His career earnings exceed $150 million, according to Spotrac, but he said a handful of bettors had paid him “maybe a couple bucks here or there” via Venmo after he won tournaments and presumably lined their pockets as well.
“That didn’t happen nearly as much as the requests did,” Scheffler added.
STRUGGLING households have just days left to apply for extra cost of living payments worth up to £1,000.
The cash is part of the Household Support Fund, which is a £742million fund distributed by councils in England.
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Families have just days left to apply for cost of living payments
Local authorities have until March 31, 2026, to allocate their share of the fund and can set their own eligibility criteria.
Some councils have already starting distributing their share through cash bank transfers and vouchers while some are yet to.
Residents in Portsmouth in financial hardship and who are struggling to afford essentials can apply for an exceptional hardship payment worth up to £1,000.
Those on Universal Credit and other benefits can apply but you don’t need to be.
Read more on Universal Credit
However, the city is closing applications at 12 noon on June 12 so you’ll need to move quickly.
Applications may also close early if the funds have been used up.
You’ll need to provide evidence of your income and bank accounts.
You also need to tell what you’ve done to improve your financial situation and why you need help.
The exact amount you receive depends on household size -the maximum amount is for six or more of £800.
Whereas one person gets £350, two people £420, three people £500, four people 600, and five people £700.
Households deemed to be in the highest level of need can be awarded a further £200 taking total payments up to £1,000.
To apply, visit the portsmouth.gov.uk website.
Can I get help if I live outside Portsmouth?
Most likely, yes. However, it will depend on your circumstances and where you live.
The Household Support Fund was set up to help households cover essentials such as energy or water bills and food costs.
But, each council can set its own eligibility criteria meaning whether you qualify for help is a postcode lottery.
That said, funding is aimed at anyone who’s vulnerable or struggling to pay for essentials.
So, if you are financially hard-up or on benefits, it is likely you will be able to get help.
It’s worth bearing in mind, any help you receive via the Household Support Fund won’t affect your benefit payments.
The type of help on offer varies from supermarket vouchers to direct cash payments into your bank account.
Some councils are allocating their share of the fund to community groups and charities who you have to get in touch with.
If you’re on benefits, have limited savings, or are struggling to cover food and energy bills, it’s worth seeing if you’re eligible for help.
Contact your local council and see if you have to apply or whether support is being distributed automatically.
You can find what council area you fall under by using the government’s council locator tool – www.gov.uk/find-local-council.
Household Support fund explained
SUN Savers Editor Lana Clements explains what you need to know about the Household Support Fund.
If you’re battling to afford energy and water bills, food or other essential items and services, the Household Support Fund can act as a vital lifeline.
The financial support is a little-known way for struggling families to get extra help with the cost of living.
Every council in England has been given a share of £742million cash by the government to distribute to local low income households.
Each local authority chooses how to pass on the support. Some offer vouchers whereas others give direct cash payments.
In many instances, the value of support is worth hundreds of pounds to individual families.
Just as the support varies between councils, so does the criteria for qualifying.
Many councils offer the help to households on selected benefits or they may base help on the level of household income.
The key is to get in touch with your local authority to see exactly what support is on offer.
The current round runs until the end of March 2026.
Manish Kohli, head of Global Payments Solutions at HSBC, discusses the bank’s digital-payments strategy and how it is innovating in transaction banking. HSBC was named one of Global Finance’s Most Innovative Banks.
Global Finance: Open banking is on the rise. How does HSBC see its role evolving in this new ecosystem?
Manish Kohli: HSBC is a major player in the open-banking and open-finance ecosystem. We’re the world’s largest transaction bank and have a global footprint that spans the numerous jurisdictions and clearing systems that are driving the open-banking agenda.
We are reengineering our processes by integrating advanced digital solutions, from automated cash management to robust API connectivity. So we automate manual processes and integrate systems to improve efficiency and risk management.
Collaboration is key, because we see open banking as a catalyst for a more client-centric ecosystem. This collaboration starts with our clients as they help shape our product-development road map.
We also collaborate across clients’ treasury tech stacks and have live API integrations with partners such as SAP, Oracle, Kyriba, and FIS. This ensures we are providing clients with an end-to-end solution and staying focused on incorporating technology into payment solutions that support our clients and their treasurers with the real-time information they need to make more-informed cash management decisions.
GF: What is HSBC’s strategy for incorporating emerging payment technologies such as digital currencies—including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)—andhow do you see these impacting your payment solutions?
Kohli: Whilst CBDC maturity varies greatly by market, it will play a critical role in the payments solutions of tomorrow, which is why we continue to research, test, and invest with various central banks globally.
Currently, HSBC is involved in pilot projects with central banks in markets including the UK, France, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, and with the Bank for International Settlements’ Project Agorà.
Our tokenization platform for digital bond issuance, Project Orion, has led the way in the digitalization of capital markets infrastructure. HSBC was also one of the first financial institutions to complete proof-of-concept use cases within the Project Ensemble Sandbox, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s CBDC project to accelerate tokenization.
GF: How is HSBC utilizing data analytics to gain deeper insights into customer behavior within digital channels? And how are you using these insights to drive innovation in client service?
Kohli: We process numerous transactions per second, generating a wealth of data. This data is used not only for retrospective analysis but also in real time, powering intelligent payments solutions. The insights gathered from millions of transactions help us to not only improve our own processes but deliver tailored, actionable advice to our clients ranging from choosing the fastest or cheapest route for international payments to risk-mitigated strategies for currency management.
Our innovative analytics tools can detect when a payment is made in an alternative currency. This allows us to offer customers the option to secure the best rate. The use of AI and API integration further ensures that insights derived from data immediately support payment decisions.
We’ve established a dedicated Treasury Solutions Group, which conducts gap analyses and recommends best practices to improve treasury operations.
GF: Beyond incremental improvements to existing digital channels, what “moon shot” or disruptive digital banking or payment solutions is HSBC investing in?
Kohli: We don’t underestimate the importance of incremental improvement, given that we operate in a heavily regulated, market-driven ecosystem that spans numerous regulators, central banks, and payments partners.
We are focused on building innovative solutions that enable our clients to transform in the digital economy. In recent years, we’ve made significant investments to develop digital solutions that help accelerate the pace at which money moves globally. Our most recent innovative solution, Digital Merchant Services, has enabled HSBC to become a digital-merchant acquirer for cards, local e-wallets, and real-time payments, helping our merchant clients with seamless payment collections at scale and to grow their business efficiently.
We’ve invested $30 million in building a next-generation liquidity engine, and our use of AI allows us to provide real-time, data-driven insights during transactions. For example, through FX Prompt, our systems can instantly advise customers on the best currency option, ensuring they secure the most favorable rates, making our payment solutions smarter and more agile. Tomorrow’s moon shots will be the result of ongoing collaboration with numerous stakeholders in the ecosystem, persistent investment, and continuous R&D.
There’s a quiet change brewing in the crypto payments world. This is not just another blockchain buzz. SpacePay is stepping into the spotlight with a goal that might seem ambitious at first.
It is trying to outperform traditional payment systems that have been in place for decades. But once you understand what this crypto project is doing, that ambition starts to sound a lot more realistic.
SpacePay is designed to make crypto payments as easy as using cash or a card. In today’s fast-moving digital world, that’s exactly the kind of shift that could catch on quickly. Their team also launched the presale for its native token – $SPY.
As more people become comfortable with digital assets, the need for a smoother, simpler way to actually spend those assets becomes obvious.
What Makes SpacePay Different
Instead of trying to replace traditional systems with some overly complex blockchain solution, SpacePay meets people where they are. It works directly with card machines that merchants are already using.
There’s no extra hardware to buy. Businesses simply install the SpacePay app on their existing Android terminals, and they’re ready to accept crypto payments.
On the user side, it’s even more effortless. You can pay using your favorite wallet/ SpacePay supports over 325 of them, and you can use a wide variety of cryptocurrencies too. That means no more awkward juggling between tokens just to make a transaction.
Transaction Speed and Fees: A Clear Win for SpacePay
One of the most frustrating parts of traditional payments is the delay. Even with modern card systems, merchants could sometimes wait a day or two for settlements to arrive.
With SpacePay, transactions are processed instantly. There’s no pending window, no uncertainty. Just real-time payment that settles on the spot.
When it comes to fees, the difference is even clearer. Traditional systems typically charge between 2% and 3% per transaction. That might not sound like much, but for high-volume businesses, it quickly adds up.
SpacePay keeps its transaction fee at just 0.5%. That’s a huge saving over time and one that could shift the economics for merchants in a big way.
Privacy and Control Are Built In
Another area where SpacePay really separates itself is privacy. When you swipe a card or make a bank transfer, your data moves through centralized systems. It can be tracked, stored, and sometimes even sold.
With SpacePay, users don’t have to rely on banks. Payments are made directly from their own wallets. That means no middlemen, no stored personal information, and no chance of chargebacks. This level of user control gives people a sense of freedom and privacy that legacy systems simply can’t offer.
Easier for Merchants to Adopt
One of the reasons many businesses hesitate to accept crypto is the perceived complexity. They imagine they’ll need to learn new tools or invest in specialized devices. SpacePay eliminates that problem. The app is simple to install and works with the terminals they already have.
Even better, merchants don’t have to worry about crypto volatility. SpacePay automatically converts the payment to the local fiat currency of their choice, so they know exactly how much they’ll receive, regardless of market fluctuations.
All of this is happening behind the scenes. From the merchant’s point of view, it feels like a regular sale. That level of convenience is how crypto adoption moves from niche to mainstream.
The SPY Token Adds Another Layer
SpacePay’s SPY token also gives holders real advantages inside the SpacePay ecosystem.
If you hold SPY, you get monthly loyalty rewards for simply using the platform.
The more active you are, the more you earn. You also gain voting power, which means you can help shape the future of the project by participating in community decisions.
SPY holders are also first in line for new features. They’ll be the first to test new products, access new upgrades, and receive early perks that the general public doesn’t get.
On top of that, SpacePay has promised a revenue-sharing model. That means token holders can receive a portion of the platform’s income, creating a passive income opportunity that is directly tied to SpacePay’s growth.
There’s even a social good component. When you make donations using SPY, SpacePay will match your contributions to pre-approved charities. It’s a way for the project to not just grow in value, but also give back in meaningful ways.
The Presale Is On Now – and It Could Be Just the Beginning
The presale stage offers a chance to get involved early, before SpacePay launches more widely and potentially becomes a go-to solution for crypto payments around the world. As more users and merchants come onboard, the value of SPY could rise.
To get started, go to the official SpacePay website and connect your crypto wallet like MetaMask, Trust Wallet, or any other compatible option. You can buy SPY using ETH, BNB, USDT, MATIC, AVAX, BASE, or even a bank card.
Choose how much you want to invest, and approve the transaction. Once complete, you will become an early participant in one of the most promising crypto payment projects currently available.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not provide financial advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, and the market can be unpredictable. Always perform thorough research before making any cryptocurrency-related decisions.
But the changes will also have a knock-on effect on carers who qualify for benefits because they look after someone on PIP.
From late next year, new and existing PIP claimants being reassessed will have to score a minimum of four points in at least one activity to receive the Daily Living Component.
The higher rate of the Daily Living Component is currently worth £110.40 a week.
Claimants will also have to score at least eight points when being assessed.
The Government estimates this means by 2029/30 around 800,000 won’t receive the Daily Living Component of PIP.
But it has also confirmed 150,000 will be missing out on Carer’s Allowance or the Universal Credit Carer’s Element by 2029/30 too.
This is because to receive either of these carer’s benefits you have to be caring for someone who receives the Daily Living part of PIP.
It means new and existing PIP claimants finding they are no longer eligible will disqualify their carer’s from next November when the changes kick in.
What are Carer’s Allowance and the carer’s element of Universal Credit?
Carer’s Allowance is paid to those caring for someone else (who is on benefits) for at least 35 hours a week and is worth £83.30 a week.
Three key benefits that YOU could be missing out on, and one even gives you a free TV Licence
You don’t have to be related to the person you care for, or live with them, to qualify.
If you are on Carer’s Allowance you also receive National Insurance credits which contribute to your NI record.
What classes as someone needing “care” is based on them qualifying for a number of benefits. These are:
Personal Independence Payment – Daily Living Component
Disability Living Allowance – the middle or highest care rate
Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance – the middle or highest care rate
Attendance Allowance
Pension Age Disability Payment
Constant Attendance Allowance at or above the normal maximum rate with an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
Constant Attendance Allowance at the basic (full day) rate with a War Disablement Pension
Armed Forces Independence Payment
Child Disability Payment – the middle or highest care rate
Adult Disability Payment – daily living component at the standard or enhanced rate
The person you are caring for must also need help with certain tasks including: washing and cooking, being taken to the doctors and household tasks like managing bills or going food shopping.
Carer’s Allowance is issued to those living in England, Wales or Scotland aged 16 or over.
It’s worth noting, receiving Carer’s Allowance can impact the benefits the person you are caring for gets.
For example, they will usually stop receiving a severe disability premium or an extra amount for severe disability premium if they are on Pension Credit.
You can apply for Carer’s Allowance and find out more about the exact eligibility criteria via www.gov.uk/carers-allowance/how-to-claim.
The carer’s element of Universal Credit is added to your Universal Credit standard allowance if you care for someone and they receive a number of qualifying benefits. These are:
Adult Disability Payment – standard or enhanced award
Armed Forces Independence Payment
Attendance Allowance
Child Disability Payment – middle or highest care award
Constant Attendance Allowance – full day rate, intermediate rate or exceptional rate with Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
Constant Attendance Allowance – full day rate with a War Disablement Pension
Disability Living Allowance – middle or highest care rate
Personal Independence Payment – either rate of the Daily Living Part
To get the carer’s element you’ll also need to be providing 35 hours a week of care to the person receiving the qualifying benefit.
You get an extra monthly amount worth £201.68.
If you are receiving an extra amount because you have a limited capability for work and work related activity (LCWRA), you won’t qualify for the extra carer’s element part.
Meanwhile, if the person you care for gets the severe disability premium, it will stop when you claim the carer’s element of Universal Credit.
Are you missing out on benefits?
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to
Entitledto’s free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
