By the end of the year, customers of HSBC and First Direct may benefit from same-day clearing of electronic payments.
Currently it takes money leaving an account at least two days to end up at where it was sent. By the end of 2005, customers will receive interest until the day the money appears in the recipient's account.
Interest from this delay earned banks £30 million in 2003 according to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
HSBC estimates they will pay their 10.5 million current account holders between £5 million and £6 million in the first year.
Clearing times in the UK lag behind many developed countries, HSBC chief operating officer Dyfrig John said.
He added that HSBC fully supports the OFT task force initiative to develop an industry-wide solution.
"We will be ready to pass on any interest we earn by the end of the year and we hope it proves a positive catalyst for change across the industry," he told the Daily Mail.
Faster clearing of payments promised
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