Petition · past parliament

Force banks to process card transactions faster for small businesses

Rejected 17 signatures

What the petition asks

Make it mandatory for banks to release card payments within 24hrs rather than 2-3 days during the outbreak to help assist small businesses with cash flow.
Many customers are not using cash due to the current outbreak and preferring to use card payments. Many smaller businesses use card processing machines that can take 3-4 working days to clear, this is causing cash flow problems for smaller businesses during the outbreak. Please pass a ruling for payments to be released within 24hrs by all card machine providers.

Why it was rejected

It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.

The processing of card payments is a matter for individual banks and the independent Financial Conduct Authority.

Timeline

16 Mar 2020 Petition opened for signatures
1 Apr 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 17
Status Rejected
Rejected 1 Apr 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.