Hundreds of small businesses in the U.K. may soon be unable to make electronic payments via the Bacs payment system, the payment scheme warned, as the deadline looms for Bacs users to upgrade their systems.
Bacs Payment Schemes previously announced that its corporate users would need to upgrade their systems following heightened security integrations into the payment network. After June 13, Bacs said, it would no longer support older connection protocols, leaving those with outdated systems potentially unable to make electronic payments.
That date is fast approaching, but according to Bacs, there are about 1,000 SMEs in the nation that have yet to complete the upgrade.
“We are really disappointed that a number of organizations have not acted on urgent communications about important changes they must make to their payment software,” said Bacs Director of Scheme Support and Development Mike Hutchinson, according to reports. “We have been telling them this for more than a year.”
The company decided to make the changes following the identification of security flaws within its SSL certificates, a kind of data file. Bacs is now moving to phase out support of outdated certificates that could also pose security threats.
Reports noted that other entities, including Google and other web browsers, are similarly ending their support for the outdated technology.
Without the SMEs updating their systems to adopt a particular type of SSL encryption, the companies may be unable to make electronic payments via the Bacs system.
“If you’re a small business, you should check now whether you have the right software and operating system in place to make important payments, like payroll, as well as to settle invoices,” Hutchinson continued. “If you work for a small business, ask your finance team if they’ve made these changes.”
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