Our Chief Financial Officer, Michael Ellis, recently delivered a keynote speech at the MoneyLIVE Summit, setting the scene for the payments infrastructure agenda by sharing his insights on innovation and growth in UK payments.
With senior representatives from across the global financial services landscape, including banks, payment providers, fintech organisations and regulators, this year’s two-day event focused on key themes affecting the banking and payments industries today, including payments innovation, digital ID and financial crime, and open banking.
With a focus on ‘Unlocking choice and delivering growth: The National Payments Vision’, Michael’s speech highlighted Pay.UK’s work to drive innovation and growth in the UK payments industry.
Michael began by confirming that we welcome the Government’s National Payments Vision and recognise that we must work collectively to ensure its successful delivery. In an evolving payments landscape, characterised by increasing end-user demand and innovation, our payments infrastructure must adapt to deliver the certainty, convenience, and choice and control, that end users desire. By working together, not only can we keep the metaphorical payments lights on, but we can also enable our vibrant industry to thrive by unlocking innovation and growth and continuing to deliver benefits to end users.
So how do we upgrade our systems to ensure that we are ahead of the innovation, interoperability, security, reliability and forward-thinking curve? Michael explained that the National Payments Vision has reinforced the need for what we have been calling for – a strategic, central direction from the Government. Prior to its publication, we made the case to His Majesty’s Treasury that the UK needs a more agile and flexible approach to infrastructure renewal to ensure its future resilience and relevance. Following the pause of our New Payments Architecture programme in 2024, and in response to the Government’s Future of Payments Review, we worked with the wider industry to develop and propose a package of 15 measures to enhance and develop the current payments infrastructure.
Michael confirmed that the Government and our regulators have endorsed this approach and we have now received a remit from our regulators (the Bank of England’s Financial Market Infrastructure Directorate and the Payment Systems Regulator) to deliver five of the 15 critical enhancements to the current payments infrastructure, in collaboration with the industry. These enhancements will enable interoperability with messaging standards, support exciting open banking developments, and enhance resilience and consumer protection.
Michael concluded that industry collaboration is critical to effecting change and we are now mobilising our team and a cross-industry delivery body to deliver these five priority enhancements. We will also be working with the industry and our regulators to consider the potential opportunities of the remaining 10 enhancements from our 2024 proposal.
Michael said: “Together, these enhancements, alongside collaboration with the payments ecosystem, will pave the way for innovation and growth in UK payments – once again putting the UK at the forefront of the global payments market.”
