Planning

BACS Services for HMRC

HM REVENUE & CUSTOMS

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

06 May 2026 at 14:34

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is currently in the planning stage of a procurement process titled "BACS Services for HMRC," focusing on financial and insurance services, with an emphasis on BACS-Approved Software (BASS) providers. This procurement is part of a larger initiative under the Unity programme, which aims to standardise ERP systems across HMRC and other government departments. Interested parties are invited to register through HMRC's eSourcing system by 1st June 2026. The procurement covers services across the United Kingdom with an anticipated contract period from February 2027 to February 2032, and the procurement documentation is planned to become available by 27th September 2026.

This tender represents significant opportunities for growth, especially for businesses that are already BASS providers and capable of handling high volumes and secure submissions. Companies with experience in providing BACS gateway services and those that can offer additional functionalities such as converting BACS files to Faster Payments files are particularly suited for this opportunity. Given the expansive scope and the substantial contract value, providers who can support and enhance the UK's public financial infrastructure will be well-positioned to benefit from participating in this procurement process. Interested businesses are encouraged to engage in the preliminary market engagement process to better understand the requirements and express their interest to HMRC.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

BACS Services for HMRC

Notice Description

Background His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is the UK's tax, payments and customs authority and collects the money that pays for the UK's public services and gives financial support to people. HMRC is a direct submitter to BACS, leveraging BACS-approved software and providers to submit. HMRC are seeking to engage interested providers in the market who are BACS-Approved Software (BASS) providers and who are able to provide Bacstel-IP services. For the purposes of this PIN, HMRC Commercial are representing HMRC's interests, but are also considering the longer-term implications of Unity in delivery. The Unity programme is a major cross-government programme centred on building shared service capability to modernise and standardise ERP systems across three government departments: HMRC, Department for Transport, and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. DfT and MHCLG are not direct submitters to BACS and instead use a bureau service to submit payment files to BACS. This is currently provided by PayGate and is due to expire in April 2028. It is currently envisaged that procurement for the new BACS contract(s) will launch per the timescales provided below within this document. This Prior Information Notice (PIN) is issued for notification purposes and does not constitute a formal tender or pre-qualification process, nor does it represent a commitment to procure any goods or services. Parties should note participation in pre-market engagement will not influence or provide advantage in any future procurement, and that the scope, services, values and timelines referenced are indicative only and subject to change. Note the procurement may not go ahead in this and/or any format, and any procurement is subject to relevant internal approvals. PIN objectives The purpose of this updated PIN is to: a) advise the banking industry that HMRC intend to undertake a tendering exercise to award new contract(s) for the provision of BACS; b) provide further information on envisaged BACS requirements and the prospective procurement; and c) invite potential providers to register (if not already registered) through HMRC's eSourcing system - using the instructions provided below. Scope of requirement HMRC are seeking to re-procure their BACS gateway service. HMRC is a direct submitter to BACS and submits Direct Debits and Direct Credits directly to BACS through a BACS-Approved Software Service . The non-exhaustive list of services under consideration are as follows: * Securely send BACS files to Vocalink on behalf of HMRC using a BACS-Approved Software o Capability to process files same-day o Capability to handle high volumes of files * Ability to configure SUNS for the number of files * Ability to view Vocalink reports including value and volume of paid, returns, rejected and amendments for audit purposes * Capability to receive BACS files from HMRC IT supplier * Capability to convert BACS files into Faster Payments files where needed * Capability to process Government Grade 3 files * Ability to process and report on failure or success of transactions * Availability of Management Information for HMRC o Including but not limited to volume of direct credit and direct debit submitted to Vocalink * Ability to receive and process Direct Debit payments and set up Direct Debit mandates e.g. send AUDDIS files * BACS Supplier must be able to retrieve BACS reports from the BACS Payment Services website and display them on the BACS-Tel-IP report service * Optional: Act as a Bureau to submit payments on behalf of DfT and MHCLG

Planning Information

Future Procurement Should HMRC proceed to a formal procurement, a Planned Procurement Notice will be published on Find a Tender hosted on GOV.UK. Suppliers who do not respond to this PIN will not be excluded from participating in any future tender. We understand that not all organisations may be suited to partner with us. However, if you believe your organisation possesses the relevant skills and is interested in working with one of HM Government's largest departments, please contact paris.barnes1@hmrc.gov.uk to express your interest and to receive further details of this market engagement. Further Details on Registering to use HMRC's eSourcing system Suppliers who wish to participate in public procurements are required to register on the Government's Central Digital Platform (CDP). Suppliers can submit their core supplier information and, where a procurement opportunity arises, share this information with HMRC via the CDP. It is free to use and will mean you should no longer have to re-enter your core supplier information for each public procurement, but simply ensure it is up to date and subsequently share as needed. The CDP is available at https://www.gov.uk/find-tender. Any future procurement will be conducted by way of an e-Sourcing event using HMRC's SAP Ariba e-Sourcing portal. You must ensure you are registered with the e-Sourcing portal to gain access to the procurement documentation when it is released, which will contain full details of the requirement. If you are not already registered, the registration link is; http://hmrc.sourcing-eu.ariba.com/ad/selfRegistration As part of the registration process you will receive a system generated email asking you to activate your SAP Ariba supplier account by verifying your email address. Once you have completed the activation process you will receive a further email confirming the 'registration process is now complete' and providing you with 'your organisation's account ID' number. If an email response from HMRC is not received within one working day of your request, please re-contact sapariba.hmrcsupport@hmrc.gov.uk (after first checking your spam inbox) notifying them of non-receipt and confirming the date when your registration request was first made. Once you have obtained 'your organisation's account ID' number, please email paris.barnes1@hmrc.gov.uk with the following information: - Contract title and Reference - Your organisation's HMRC SAP Ariba account ID - Your organisation name - Your name - Your email address - Your telephone number Once you have complied with the above, you will receive an email confirming access to the procurement event once it is built. Additionally, should HMRC have any questions for interested Suppliers prior to the event being published (in terms of market engagement and requirement development), the above provided contact details will be used. If you have already registered on SAP Ariba then you may also need to re-register on HMRC's SAP Ariba to be added to this event.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-069286
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/041572-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

66 - Financial and insurance services

CPV Codes

66000000 - Financial and insurance services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£2,100,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
6 May 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
27 Sep 20265 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
3 Feb 2027 - 2 Feb 2032 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
HM REVENUE & CUSTOMS
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1A 2BQ
Post Town
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts. 

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