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Banking

EFTs, debit orders and PayShap

An EFT is a payment you send. A debit order is a pull you authorised. PayShap is an instant payment rail. They fail in different ways.

Reviewed 29 October 2026 by the WiT Money editorial team. This is general information, not a recommendation from a named adviser.

Key points

  • You start an EFT. A company starts a debit order, using an authority you gave.
  • A stop order is your instruction to pay. A debit order is their instruction to collect.
  • Disputing a debit order has a time limit at the bank. Do not wait for the next statement cycle to notice it.

An electronic funds transfer sends money from your account to another. A normal EFT can take a business day or more to clear. An immediate payment, including PayShap where your bank offers it, is meant to arrive in seconds, often for a fee, and often with a limit. The name on the screen is the rail. The fee is in your bank's guide.

A debit order lets a company collect an agreed amount. A stop order is an instruction you give your own bank to pay someone. Cancelling a stop order is your instruction. Stopping a debit order can be a cancellation with the company and a dispute with the bank if the collection was not authorised or the amount was wrong.

When a debit order goes wrong

If you did not authorise it, or the amount is not what you agreed, tell the bank quickly and keep the reference. Banks have dispute windows. A successful dispute returns that collection. It does not cancel the contract with the company. The insurer, the lender or the gym can still say you owe them.

Debit cards and credit cards

A debit card spends money already in the account, or an overdraft if the bank allows one. A credit card spends the bank's money up to a limit, and interest starts if you do not pay the statement in full. They can look identical in a shop. The cost is not identical. The credit-card guide covers the revolving balance.

Questions readers ask

If I reverse a debit order, is the contract cancelled?

No. You have stopped one collection. Read the agreement before you assume the policy or the loan has ended.

Related

Sources

Page updated 29 October 2026. A source date is the day WiT Money checked that page, not a promise the institution has not changed it since.