UK: UK Payments Regulators Announce Full Consolidation Of UK Retail Payment Systems

On July 2, 2018, the Payment Systems Regulator and the New Payment System Operator issued press releases confirming that the consolidation of U.K. retail payment systems is now complete. Consolidation of the three U.K. payment systems was one of the recommendations made in the Payments Strategy Forum's November 2016 report, which set out a wide-ranging strategy for reforming the U.K. retail payments industry.

The NPSO assumed responsibility for Bacs Payment Schemes Limited and Faster Payments Scheme Ltd on May 1, 2018. The NPSO's press release confirms that, as of July 1, 2018, the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company Limited has become a subsidiary of the NPSO and the NPSO has assumed responsibility for oversight of running and managing the cheque paper and cheque image clearing systems. All payments will continue to be processed through the cheque clearing systems. The NPSO has also acquired UK Payments Administration Ltd, which is the service company responsible for providing people, facilities and business services to the U.K. payments industry. The PSR confirms in its press release that its powers apply equally to NPSO in relation to the cheque clearing systems.

The NPSO press release is available at: http://www.newpso.uk/news.html#npso23, the PSR press release is available at: https://www.psr.org.uk/psr-publications/news-announcements/consolidation-uk-retail-payment-systems-now-complete, details of NPSO's responsibility for Bacs and Faster Payments are available at: https://finreg.shearman.com/new-payment-systems-operator-for-uk-retail-paymen, the NPSO's factsheet on its role and responsibilities is available at: http://www.newpso.uk/180502_npsofactsheet.pdf  and the Payments Strategy Forum Recommendations are available at: https://paymentsforum.uk/sites/default/files/documents/A%20Payments%20Strategy%20for%20the%2021st%20Century%20-%20Putting%20the%20needs%20of%20users%20first_0.pdf.

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