The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has asked for opinions regarding competition issues which could occur following the New Payments Architecture (NPA).
NPA is set to change the clearing and settlement of payments between banks, known as interbank payments.
Interbank are key to the daily operations of a bank, anywhere from paying employee wages or transferring money to a friend. The changes to the NPA aim to make transactions safer and give more control to consumers on who, when and how they pay.
The regulator is looking to see whether changes will boost innovation within payments, which could be achieved through better competition, enhancing resilience and bolstering security.
A Call for Input has been issued by the regulator as it hopes to gather feedback on how likely competition is to materialise with changes and how harmful they would be.
The regulator will publish a policy statement to explain what participants and other users can expect from the changes.
PSR managing director Chris Hemsley said, “The renewal of the UK’s interbank payments infrastructure, through the NPA, has the potential to deliver innovative new services and products for businesses and consumers.
“Pay.UK continues to make progress in its role to deliver this infrastructure renewal. Today’s publication supports that process, by inviting views on what might prevent the benefits that competition can bring, and the steps that all parties – including the PSR – can take to ensure that people and businesses feel the full benefits of this important investment in our payments infrastructure.”
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