In the Santander app and Online Banking you can send a single payment of up to £25,000, free, and up to £100,000 in payments in 24 hours. You can set your own lower limit and change it whenever you need to. To send more than £100,000, Santander points you to CHAPS, which you arrange by phone or in a branch.
This page is part of our Santander UK guide. The limits are from Santander’s payments, CHAPS and international payments pages and its fee documents, read on 28 September 2026.
Santander’s payment limits
| Payment | Santander’s limit | Santander’s fee |
|---|---|---|
| One payment in the app or Online Banking | £25,000 | Free |
| All your payments in 24 hours | £100,000 | Free |
| To a sort code Santander treats as high-risk | £300 a payment, £1,000 in any rolling 30 days | Free |
| CHAPS (phone or branch) | No upper limit | £25 on the Everyday Current Account; not charged on Edge or Edge Up |
| International payment (Online Banking, phone or branch) | Not stated by Santander | £25 on the Everyday Current Account; not charged on Edge or Edge Up; SEPA euro payments free |
The £25,000 figure is per payment and the £100,000 figure is the total, so you can reach the 24-hour maximum only by making several payments. International payments also carry a currency conversion mark-up in the exchange rate; the full breakdown is on our Santander fees page.
Worked example: paying a house deposit
You need to send £60,000 to a solicitor. No single app payment can cover it, but three payments can: two of £25,000 and a third of £10,000. Together they come to £60,000, which is within the £100,000 Santander allows in 24 hours, so all three can go the same day at no cost. First check that your own payment limit is set high enough, and confirm the account details with the solicitor by phone, not from an email.
If the sum were £150,000, it would be over the 24-hour maximum. CHAPS sends it as one payment on the same working day, for £25 from an Everyday account or no charge from Edge or Edge Up (see below). Santander says CHAPS is typically used for urgent or high-value payments such as buying a property or paying a deposit on one. For CHAPS timings and cut-offs in general, see how long a CHAPS payment takes.
How to change your payment limit
You choose the limit you’re comfortable with, anywhere up to Santander’s own maximum. A lower setting caps how much could leave your account if someone got into your banking or talked you into paying them. Santander suggests raising the limit for a one-off purchase and then setting it back down.
- In the app: tap “Pay & transfer”, then “Payment limits”. Santander has a step-by-step “manage payment limits” guide in its mobile demo pages.
- In Online Banking: log on, go to “Payments and transfers” and choose “Manage payment limit”.
Payments between your own Santander accounts use a separate “Transfer between my accounts” option in Online Banking.
Sending a larger sum by CHAPS
CHAPS is a same-day payment in pounds with no upper limit. Santander doesn’t offer it in the app; you ask for it in one of two ways:
- By Telephone Banking, 8am to 6pm, Monday to Sunday. Requests made by 1pm go the same day.
- In a branch. Requests made by 3pm go the same day (Santander says the deadline may be later at branches open beyond 5pm). Take your card and PIN and a form of ID.
Requests after the cut-off go on the next working day. You’ll need the recipient’s full name exactly as it appears on their account, their sort code and account number, the reference and the amount.
What it costs depends on your account. Santander’s CHAPS page says “There is a £25 charge to make a CHAPS payment”, and the Everyday Current Account’s fee document lists the same £25. The Santander Edge and Edge Up fee documents list CHAPS as “Fee not charged”. Receiving a CHAPS payment into a Santander account is free.
Why a payment might be capped: high-risk sort codes
If Santander spots that the sort code you’re paying is high-risk, it may restrict the payment to protect you from fraud and scams. You can then send no more than £300 in one payment, and no more than £1,000 in total in any rolling 30-day period. Santander doesn’t publish which sort codes it treats this way. Santander has also limited payments to cryptocurrency platforms and asks you to read its cryptocurrency page before making one.
If you need to give someone your own Santander details, or check the format of a Santander sort code or IBAN, see our Santander sort code guide.
The checks before a payment to someone new
Santander runs several checks on a new payment in the app and Online Banking:
- The bank’s name. When you type the sort code, Santander shows you which bank it belongs to, so you can spot a sort code for the wrong bank.
- Confirmation of Payee. Santander checks the name you’ve entered against the account, if the receiving bank takes part. A match means the name is right. A close match means the account is in a similar name, and Santander shows you the actual name. No match means the details don’t match.
- The reason for the payment. You choose why you’re paying, and Santander may then show you one of five outcomes: the name and account type match; the details partly match (you’re shown the correct name or account type); the name doesn’t match (you’re asked to contact the person or company); the reference isn’t right; or the account can’t be checked, in which case Santander warns you might not get your money back if it’s the wrong account.
When you add a new payee, type their name exactly as it appears on their bank statement; for a joint account, one account holder’s name is enough. Santander says not to rely on the name check to prove a payment isn’t a scam. If someone asks you to move money to keep it safe, Santander says this is always a scam. If you think you’ve been tricked into paying someone, contact Santander straight away: its fraud numbers are listed on our Santander customer service page, and our bank scams guide covers the common tricks, from impersonation calls to fake invoices, and your rights to a refund.
How long a Santander payment takes
Santander says payments usually arrive as soon as they leave your account, but sometimes they can take until the end of the next working day. A CHAPS payment arrives the same working day if it’s requested before the cut-off. Payments abroad take longer: a payment in pounds sent outside the UK usually arrives the next working day, and one in a currency other than pounds, euros or US dollars can take up to 4 working days. Santander doesn’t process international payments on non-working days, including weekends, bank holidays and non-working days in the destination country.
For a fixed amount you pay every month, such as rent, a standing order saves you making a new payment each time. The differences from a Direct Debit are set out in Direct Debit vs standing order.