Laura WilesFollowing consultation, the PSR has published its decisions to revoke Specific Direction 2 and 2a, and Specific Direction 4 and 4A
Earlier this year, the PSR also revoked Specific Direction 3, which required that all central infrastructure for Faster Payments post-1 July 2026 was provided under a contract that was the result of competitive procurement. This decision aimed to provide the space for work to deliver the NPV.
Specific Direction 2 required all central infrastructure for Bacs to be competitively procured, but with no deadline set by the PSR. It has been revoked for the same reason as Specific Direction 3.
Specific Direction 4 mandated that any future central infrastructure services for LINK post-2 October 2031 must be provided under competitively procured contracts. The PSR assess that mandated a competitive procurement process was no longer the best way to address risks presented by a lack of effective competition for the provision of critical payment infrastructure for LINK.
The PSR has given Specific Directions to both Pay.UK and LINK which come into force on 27 and 25 August 2025 respectively.