Laura WilesThe Payments Vision Delivery Committee has published its strategy for the future of UK retail payments infrastructure, in line with the Government’s National Payments Vision.
The strategy is built on the three pillars of the NPV – innovation, competition and security – and five high-level strategic outcomes:
- Consumers and businesses having a greater choice of innovative and cost-effective payment options that met their needs;
- Payments operating seamlessly as part of a diverse multi-money ecosystem, with interoperability between new and existing forms of digital money;
- Consumers and businesses trusting that their payments are protected from fraud and wider financial crime;
- Participant firms having fair, transparent and non-discriminatory access to the infrastructure – maximising competition and scope for innovation across the payments ecosystem; and
- Operational and financial resilience in the payments ecosystem.
In terms of next steps, the strategy notes work in the short-term to enhance the current Faster Payment System and BACS Payment System. Otherwise, priorities include delivering ‘account-to-account’ functionality at the point of sale and supporting innovation.