The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has launched a consultation on the delivery and regulation of the UK's New Payments Architecture (NPA) as it considers narrowing the scope of the delivery contract amid concerns about the current programme's "unacceptably high risks".
In gestation for five years, the NPA will replace the UK's current Faster Payments and Bacs retail interbank payment system, with clearing and settlement taking place over a single purpose-built central infrastructure.
As it launches its consultation, the PSR says there are "unacceptably high risks " that the NPA programme - run by Pay.UK - will not provide value for money, will stifle competition and innovation, and will delay the realisation of the benefits of the NPA.
The regulator is seeking feedback on "narrowing the scope of the initial contract for delivery to those NPA services that will provide an enhanced immediate payments service and enable Faster Payments transactions to move to the NPA".
The consultation is also asking for responses on how to reduce the risks to competition and innovation. Specifically, it wants feedback on:
- Pay.UK procures effectively
- central infrastructure services (CIS) user prices are set using proportionate, objective and non-discriminatory (POND) criteria
- there are contractual provisions in place that guarantee minimum levels of service quality, place restrictions on information and data sharing, and promote and facilitate innovation
On governance issues, the PSR says it wants to make sure that:
- Pay.UK is the primary interface and decision-maker for all matters relating to CIS provision
- Pay.UK actively implements rules to promote competition and ensure access terms are POND
- if a CIS provider (or its owner) has a significant interest in another payment system that competes with interbank payments or in the NPA’s competitive overlay markets, its CIS functions are operationally separate
Read the consultation paper:
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