Security changes – called SHA-256-SSL – are being driven by the global internet community, which will adopt these improved security measures at the end of this year.
At that stage, all organisations needing to communicate securely with users across the internet and via extranets will be impacted. Bacs is making the change before then and on 13 June, to avoid any last minute issues with payments when the existing SHA-1 certificates are switched off.
Bacs’ Mike Hutchinson said: “We are really disappointed that a number of organisations have not acted on urgent communications about important changes they must make to their payment software. We have been telling them this for more than a year.
“If you’re a small business, you should check now whether or not you have the right software and operating system in place to make important payments, like payroll as well as to settle invoices. If you work for a small business, ask your finance team if they’ve made these changes.”
Any business yet to make the necessary changes should immediately contact their software
