On the 19th July the PSR released its annual report for 2021/2022, and outlined how it has helped the public in the past year. During the year, the PSR:
- imposed its biggest ever fine (for cartel behaviour in the prepaid cards market resulting in fines of over £33m);
- increased protection from online scams (1 billion checks have now used CoP, and £246.8m has been returned to victims of APP fraud);
- ensured free to use cash machines remained widely available; and
- set the framework for the next generation of payment infrastructure.
Chris Hemsley, the PSR’s Managing Director said that this year the PSR made “genuine and tangible improvements”, including improving payment security, and increasing the effectiveness of its enforcement actions.
Future plans include increasing the accepted number of payment methods, trying to create a realistic alternative to credit and debit cards, and continuing work on ensuring payment systems function well for everyone.