PSR intends to consult on changing its obligations on Pay.UK for the New Payments Architecture

The Payment Systems Regulator has said it intends to consult on changing its obligations on Pay.UK in relation to the New Payments Architecture, following the Government's National Payments Vision. The Vision was announced by Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in her Mansion House speech on 14 November 2024¹.

In a piece published by the regulator, its managing director David Geale wrote that the PSR welcomed the direction the Vision provides and the accompanying recommendations letter setting out the Government's priorities for the UK's payments sector¹. He said the Chancellor set out the importance of innovation, security and competition as key pillars for the payments ecosystem¹.

On infrastructure, Geale wrote that the PSR will work with the Bank of England to clarify and refresh the requirements for the UK's retail infrastructure, including the governance arrangements needed to deliver this¹.

The regulator also set out other work. It said it will deliver its current work on phase one of variable recurring payments and will shortly publish proposed next steps, working with the FCA as the FCA takes the lead for open banking¹. It said it will shortly publish its mid-Strategy review¹.

On fraud and consumer protection, the PSR said its APP reimbursement rules to compensate victims have been implemented and are protecting consumers, and that it has expanded Confirmation of Payee to help address fraud and payments made in error¹. It confirmed that the 12-month implementation review it had previously committed to will be independently led¹. It said a publication on the origination of fraud, including the role of social media, is planned for later this year¹.

The regulator said it already works closely with the FCA and the Bank of England under a current memorandum of understanding, and will play a full role in taking forward updates to it¹. It also said it welcomes the Payments Vision Delivery Committee and will play an active role in its work¹.

The sources do not give a date for the consultation on the Pay.UK obligations, nor say what the changed obligations would be. The timing of the mid-Strategy review and the variable recurring payments next steps is given only as "shortly"¹.

Why it matters for households

The New Payments Architecture is the planned upgrade to the infrastructure that sits behind faster payments between UK accounts. The PSR's stated intention to consult on changing its obligations on Pay.UK means the rules governing that programme are open to revision, though no timetable or detail has been reported¹.

The other strands touch households more directly. The APP reimbursement rules require firms to compensate victims of authorised push payment fraud, and the PSR says these are in force and protecting consumers now¹. The 12-month implementation review, which the PSR says will be independently led, will examine how those rules have worked in practice¹. Confirmation of Payee, which checks that a name matches an account before a payment is sent, has been expanded, according to the regulator¹.

The PSR's work on variable recurring payments concerns a form of account-to-account payment that can be set up on a recurring basis, which the regulator links to greater choice and downward pressure on costs¹. Its next steps on phase one have not yet been published¹.

What happens next

The PSR has said it will shortly publish its mid-Strategy review and its proposed next steps on phase one of variable recurring payments, and that a publication on the origination of fraud, including the role of social media, is planned for later this year¹. It has said it intends to consult on changing its obligations on Pay.UK in relation to the New Payments Architecture, but no date for that consultation has been reported¹. The Government's National Payments Vision was announced on 14 November 2024¹.