Glossary · UK
What is Variable Recurring Payment (VRP)?
An Open Banking payment permission letting a business take a series of payments of varying amounts directly from a customer's bank account, within limits the customer sets once.
Full Definition
A Variable Recurring Payment (VRP) is an Open Banking payment arrangement in which a customer gives a business (or a payment provider acting for it) standing permission to take a series of future payments directly from their bank account, where the amount and timing of each payment can vary — unlike a standard Direct Debit, which is broadly similar in concept but runs on separate, older payment-scheme infrastructure. When setting up a VRP, the customer typically sets controls such as a maximum payment amount and maximum frequency, giving them certainty over the outer limits of what can be taken, while each individual payment within those limits does not need separate re-authorisation. Early VRP use in the UK has focused on 'sweeping' — automatically moving money between a customer's own accounts, for example topping up a savings account or paying down a credit card automatically — with regulators and industry working towards extending VRP to a wider range of commercial uses, such as utility bills and other variable recurring charges, as a lower-cost, faster-settling alternative to card-on-file payments and Direct Debit.