CASS - details of its workings

I have used the CASS before, but only for incentives. Any time I have ever wanted to actually switch my real primary account I have done it manually.

I was just reading about the process, and I found it interesting that the old bank details stay “indefinitely” so any payments sent there can be redirected. Is that how it actually works? Is it really “indefinite”?

I was also interested in the bit where when some organisation sends a payment to the old account, it gets notified about the new details. How exactly does that happen? Letter, email? From whom? My salary comes from the public sector and there may be issues with our particular lot’s bureaucratic efficiency… would such a thing work as described/expected (govt department notified about new bank details and updating their system for me without me going through the process of formally declaring new bank details)?

I’m pretty sure the redirect for incoming payments work for 13 months (which means that if you have an annual payment coming in it’ll be caught) but I’m not certain. EDIT - at least 3 years (based on a quick Google!).

If payments are made by BACS, and for DDs (which are also requested via BACS), there are reports generated for changed accounts.

AWACS (Advice of Wrong account for Automated Credits Service) informs the sender of the new account details for Direct Credits.

ADDACS (Automated Direct Debit Amendment and Cancellation Service) performs the same function when a DD is claimed from an old account. I assume that this is what is used if a DD is claimed prior to the “old” bank actually moving all the DDs across to the new bank.

For AWACS and ADDACS notifications the payment/DD originator should make the notified changes on their own systems within three working days as part of their agreement as a BACS service user, so that any subsequent payments or DD requests are correctly directed.

Im not fully au fait with all the workings of CASS and if others can shed more light on this if love to know more :slight_smile:

4 Likes

Your employer will be told about the new account details, but for something as important as your salary, don’t just put blind faith in the system – tell your employer yourself.

6 Likes

Also some employers will disregard any notification of change of bank details, unless it’s come directly from you.

None of my employers will change banking details unless I’ve logged into a portal to alter them, or provided a signed form with the new details on