Lloyds TSB, Barclays and HSBC enter into a cheque processing deal

 Three largest UK banks Lloyds TSB, Barclays and HSBC have entered into a five year deal worth of £315 million with the UK cheque and payments processing joint venture they jointly own with IT firm Unisys.

Intelligent Processing Solutions Limited (iPSL) which was created in 2000 deals with providing outsourced cheque and credit clearing services for major banks in the UK. Unisys is the majority shareholder, with Lloyds TSB, Barclays and HSBC all holding minority stakes.

Royston Hoggarth, chairman, iPSL, says: "By using a centralised, shared-services model that delivers significant economies of scale, iPSL enables our client banks to process payments with greater cost-efficiency than they could achieve individually."