UK payments are due a digital makeover, but the scissors haven’t started cutting yet…
The UK is entering a new era of account-to-account (A2A) payments at the point of sale, aiming to give consumers and businesses greater flexibility in how they make and receive payments
The Payments Vision Delivery Committee has outlined a new long-term strategy to modernise the country’s retail payments infrastructure, aiming to make payments faster, cheaper, and more seamless while supporting emerging technologies such as stablecoins, tokenised deposits and programmable payments.
Under the plan, HM Treasury, the Bank of England, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) will guide the overall direction, while a newly established Retail Payments Infrastructure Board and an industry-owned Delivery Company will manage implementation.
The strategy is built around three core pillars of innovation, competition and security, which will help ensure the UK’s payment systems are prepared for next-generation technologies and the evolving needs of users.
The five outcomes
The Payments Vision Delivery Committee has set out five strategic outcomes aimed at modernising the UK’s retail payments infrastructure.
At the heart of the plan is the expansion of account-to-account payments at the point of sale, which gives consumers and businesses more flexibility in how they pay and get paid.
Adoption of A2A has been growing across the UK, with 15 banks now offering the service as well as tools such as Mastercard’s A2A Protect being deployed to combat fraud and bolster consumer trust.
The strategy also stresses interoperability, seeking to create a payments ecosystem where commercial bank deposits, stablecoins and even a potential digital pound can coexist and operate seamlessly.
The vision noted that by enabling different forms of digital money to coexist, the infrastructure is expected to encourage competition and catalyse innovation.
Given the UK’s ongoing battle with fraud, particularly authorised push payment (APP) scams, the Payments Vision Delivery Committee highlights trust and security as an important outcome.
The strategy makes clear the retail payments infrastructure must give users confidence their money is protected from fraud and wider financial crime and plans to do this by embedding authentication, deploying advanced fraud prevention measures and providing clear consumer protections.
The fourth outcome focuses on fair access, with the next-generation infrastructure designed to allow both established firms and new entrants to participate on equal terms. Promoting transparency and openness throughout the system is expected to stimulate competition, drive innovation.
The last outcome is resilience, with the infrastructure designed to withstand cyber threats, maintain continuous operations and support sustainable long-term investment.
Combining operational and financial strength with innovation and security aims to see the UK’s payments system meet the needs of a rapidly changing digital economy both now and in the years ahead.
Delivering the vision
Turning the strategy into reality won’t happen overnight as it is expected to take multiple years. Chaired by the Bank of England, the Retail Payments Infrastructure Board will lead design and delivery oversight, leveraging input from across the payments ecosystem.
An industry-owned Delivery Company will handle implementation, taking responsibility for procuring, funding and running the next-generation systems. The Committee and Authorities will continue to oversee progress, making decisions where trade-offs are needed and ensuring the project stays aligned with wider public policy objectives.
According to an FCA announcement about the strategy, this work will be followed by a Payments Forward Plan. The Forward Plan is part of the broader Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy 2035, which puts payments modernisation at the heart of efforts to strengthen the UK’s financial competitiveness.
