The PSR is proposing to issue a new Specific Direction to support LINK in meeting the objective of continuing to maintain a broad geographic coverage of the Free-to-Use ATM network in the UK. The draft Specific...
Category - Payment Services & Electronic Money
Emma BondPSR responds on COP call for views
PSR issued its call for views on the wider implementation of Confirmation of Payee in May 2021. It has now set out the findings from its call for views and its plans and expectation on industry for the next step. It...
Emma RadmoreFCA publishes 2020/21 Perimeter Report
The FCA has published its latest Perimeter Report, in which it calls for greater consumer protection and legislative change to address concerns beyond its remit. Highlights include recommendations that: duties on...
Lucy HadrillEuropean Commission adopts work programme for 2022
The EU Commission has adopted its 2022 work programme which sets out the next steps in its agenda towards a greener, fairer, more digital and more resilient Europe. The programme contains 42 new policy initiatives...
Contactless card payment limit increased to £100
As of Friday 15 October 2021, the spending limit for contactless card payments has been increased to £100. The decision of HM Treasury and FCA to raise the limit from the previous cap of £45 was made following the...
BoE looks at financial stability risks of crypto
Jon Cunliffe has spoken of the potential risks to financial stability of crypto assets such as bitcoin and stablecoins. Crypto assets have grown by 200% in 2021 alone. Mr Cunliffe feels that they have the potential to...
G20 Roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published “G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments – First consolidated progress report“, which summarises the progress made during the first year of the...
FIN. TeamPSR responses to consumer protection in interbank payments
The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has published the outcome of its consultation on consumer protections in interbank payments in PS21/2 – “Consumer protection in interbank payments – response to CP21/4“...
Government publishes Payments Landscape Review
The government has published its response to the 2020 Payments Landscape Review: Call for Evidence. The relevant consultation, which ran from 28 July 2020 to 20 October 2020, sought views from across the sector to be...
FSB reports on regulation, supervision and oversight of global stablecoin arrangements
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a progress report on the implementation of its high-level recommendations on the regulation, supervision and oversight of “global stablecoin” arrangements...
CMA welcomes new power to tackle competition and consumer law breaches
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) welcomes the Government’s proposals in publishing its responses to the two recent consultations: “Reforming competition and consumer policy“ and “A new...
PSR publishes approach to Interchange Fee monitoring
The PSR has updated its guidance on how it monitors and enforces the Interchange Fee Regulation in the UK. The update from the 2020 version is mainly to take account of Brexit. The guidance is relevant not only to card...
BIS mBridge: a multi CBDC platform for international payments
The mBridge project – a prototype of multiple Central Bank Digital Currencies (mCBDCs) developed by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub and the four central banks of Hong Kong, Thailand...
EBA to enhance monitoring of digital platform use in EU banking and payments sectors
A Report published by the European Banking Authority (EBA) today on the “platformisation” (use of digital platform-based business models) of the EU banking and payments sector: identifies the rapid growth in...
PSR panel publishes annual report
The PSR panel has published its annual report for 2020/21 which outlines how it has engaged with the PSR over the last year. Key themes that the panel highlighted over the last 12 months include the rapid acceleration...
FCA Chair speaks on risks of token regulation
Charles Randell, Chair of the FCA and PSR has delivered a speech on the risks of regulating crypto tokens. Speech highlights include: whilst platforms’ efforts to crack down on fraudulent advertisements are welcome, a...
Contactless limit to increase from 15 October
UK Finance has confirmed the £100 contactless limit will apply from 15 October. However, it warned that it is likely to take retailers some time to update their terminals to accept the new limit.
First report for Payments Standards Strategy Group
In February 2021, UK Finance published the Future Ready Payments 2030 report which set out an ambitious 10-year strategy for the payments industry. The recently-formed Payments Standards Strategy Group (PSSG) has now...
Banks back Confirmation of Payee extension
Following Pay.UK’s confirmation that the reach of the Confirmation of Payee Service (CoP) will be extended, a group of the UK’s major banks has written to the PSR to provide a public commitment to deliver...
Next steps for the Consumer Duty
The FCA’s consultation on a new Consumer Duty has now closed and the FCA has outlined its next steps. After considering the responses, the FCA will set out the proposed text for any new rules in a second...
BIS publishes blueprint for instant cross-border payments
BIS Innovation Hub and Monetary Authority of Singapore have published proposals for enhancing global payments network connectivity via multilateral linkages of countries’ national retail payment systems. The...
PSR writes to banks and UK Finance on Phase 2 of CoP
PSR has written an open letter to the 6 banking groups directed under its SD10 and to UK finance, on the public commitment to deliver the first part of Phase 2 of Confirmation of Payee. The banks had confirmed their...
Treasury consults on SMCR for Financial Market Infrastructures
HM Treasury is consulting on proposals to create an SMCR for financial market infrastructures (FMIs). The proposed regime would mirror the existing SMCR and would give the BoE new rule-making, supervisory and...
EBA consults on limited network exclusion guidelines
EBA is consulting on draft Guidelines to provide clarity on the application of the limited network exclusion in PSD2. The exclusion is supposed to be used for products like store cards, fuel cads, public transport cards...
FCA publishes Business Plan
FCA’s 2021/22 Business Plan highlights: how FCA has to change as the environment in which it operates changes and how investment in technology and changes in culture are key to this; the need to enable customers...
G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting
The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBGs) have had their third official meeting under the Italian G20 Presidency. Highlights include: The global outlook has improved, mainly thanks to the roll out of...
Pay.UK publishes resources for organisations implementing ISO 20022
The New Payments Architecture (NPA) will unlock significant benefits for many businesses and personal customers within the UK, helping transform the way they control their professional and personal transactions, and...
Hannah FrostUK and Singapore agree landmark Financial Partnership for financial services
An historic new partnership for financial services between the UK and Singapore, which will help to boost jobs and investment in the UK, has been agreed by the Chancellor. The Financial Partnership is a new agreement...
BoE and Pay.UK collaborate on payment messages
Pay.UK and BoE have announced a collaboration on ISO 20022 payment messages. ISO 20022 will be implemented in the CHAPS and NPA. The collaboration started in 2018 and BoE and Pay.UK will continue to work together to...
More of FS Act comes into force
The second Commencement Order under the FS Act 2021 brings into force: on 28 June the provisions on forfeiture of money in relation to EMIs and payment institutions, as they extend to Northern Ireland; and on 1 July...
BoE speech: A new dawn for payments
Speaking at City Week 2021, Victoria Cleland (Executive Director for Banking, Payments and Innovation at the BoE) talked about the evolution of payments systems in the UK, the BoE’s vision for the future and the...
EU writes to credit card providers on subscription payments
Recent research has revealed that many EU and UK consumers have ordered cheap products and services online, only to discover that they have been lured into a costly monthly subscription. In most cases the information...
LSB updates on CRM code review
LSB has published its follow up review of the CRM Code in respect of firms’ approach to reimbursing customers. Provision R2(1)(c) of the Code allows firms to decline reimbursement in specific cases. LSB looked at...
Taskforce reports on regulatory reform
The Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform has provided its report on reshaping regulation in the UK to the Prime Minister. The report calls for: a common law approach proportionality in application...
EBA reports on industry readiness for SCA
The EBA has published a report on data provided by PSPs on their readiness to apply strong customer authentication (SCA) for e-commerce card-based payment transactions. Despite PSPs in some jurisdictions lagging behind...
PSR consults on new 5-year strategy
The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has announced plans for a new five-year strategy. The proposals set out an approach that aims to make sure payments and payment systems work well for everyone and that there is fair...
EBA finalises PSD2 incident reporting guidelines
EBA has finalised and published its revised guidelines for major incident reporting under PSD2. PSD2 requires PSPs to report major operational or security incidents to their supervisors where those incidents are likely...
FSB consults on cross-border payments
The FSB is consulting on global targets for addressing the challenges of cross-border payments. The proposed targets set goals for improving cost, speed, transparency and access for cross-border payments in the coming...
ASA publishes further ruling on delayed payment services
Continuing the flurry of rulings against delayed payment service ads, ASA published a further ruling on 26 May, this time against a claim appearing on the Laybuy UK website. Text on the website stated: “…...
Emma RadmoreFCA extends SCA deadline to March 2022
The FCA has extended the deadline for implementing Strong Customer Authentication for e-commerce transactions from 14 September 2021 to 14 March 2022. This further 6-month extension is in response to concerns about...
FCA writes to CEOs of EMIs on client money
FCA has written a Dear CEO letter asking e-money firms to write to their customers to explain how their money is protected. It is worried that these firms’ promotions to customers give the impression that their...
FCA consults on new Consumer Duty
The FCA has set out plans for a new Consumer Duty which will set clearer and higher expectations for firms’ standards of care towards consumers. It is hoped that the proposals will drive a shift in culture and behaviour...
FCA and PSR make statement on access to cash
A joint statement from FCA and PSR stresses that although there has been an overall decline in use of cash, withdrawals have started again as restrictions ease, and there must remain access to cash and banking services...
Banking industry supports access to cash
UK Finance and the UK’s largest retail banks and building societies have announced their commitment to continue to preserve access to cash for consumers and businesses over the long term. The 8 financial...
Pay.UK announces Confirmation of Payee extension
Pay.UK has confirmed that, from July 2021, the reach of the Confirmation of Payee Service (CoP) will be extended with a revised capability and simplified processes. This will allow CoP to be introduced more widely to...
FCA publishes latest Regulatory Initiatives Grid
FCA has published the third edition of the Financial Services Regulatory Initiatives Forum’s Regulatory Initiatives Grid. This edition marks the end of a successful one-year pilot exercise – the FCA has confirmed that...
Financial Services Bill – what changed?
Read our article for Compliance Monitor on the key changes from the original Financial Services Bill to the Act given Royal Assent – and some of the proposals that weren’t included.
PSR consults on Brexit changes to IFR guidance
PSR has opened a consultation into changes to its guidance on the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR) as a result of Brexit and changes to the regulatory framework. Following Brexit, the IFR is now retained EU law, which...
Duncan ScottHM Treasury publishes response to consultation on Insolvency changes for payment and electronic money institutions
The Insolvency changes for payment and electronic money institutions consultation was launched on the 3 December 2020. The Government received 15 written responses to the consultation, and these responses have been...
CMA publishes annual concurrency report
CMA has published its 2020/21 annual concurrency report outlining how CMA has worked alongside other regulators, including FCA, to enforce competition law across a range of industry sectors. Highlights from the report...
LSB updates CRM Code
The LSB has published updates to the CRM Code following its review. The new provisions include those on governance and oversight, and will take effect from 14 June 2021.
BoE and Treasury announce creation of Central Bank Digital Currency Taskforce
The Bank of England (BoE) has announced, jointly with HM Treasury, the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Taskforce to coordinate the exploration of a potential UK CBDC. The BoE has also published the...
Financial Services Bill passed by Lords
Following day three of its Report stage, the House of Lords has passed the Financial Services Bill with amendments. The final amendments to be agreed by the Lords include: an amendment that, in certain circumstances...
LSB looks at APP scam prevention
LSB has stressed the importance of preventing APP fraud in the first place, rather than just ensuring customers who suffer can be reimbursed – critical though that is. It notes that the increase in online and...
FS Bill: Further amendments tabled for debate in Lords
Parliament has published a marshalled list of the latest amendments to the Financial Services Bill to be debated in the House of Lords. The proposed amendments include: a requirement for the FCA and PRA to give...
PSR board meets to discuss current and future agenda
The PSR has published the minutes of a board meeting held on 20 January 2021. The board discussed various items on the PSR’s agenda, including: Access to Cash – the PSR is working closely with industry and the FCA...
European Commission consults on instant payments
The European Commission has issued a consultation paper seeking the views of consumers, corporate users and payment service providers (PSPs) on the use of instant payment transfers. The objective of the consultation is...
PSR provisionally identifies pre-paid card cartel
PSR has announced that it has issued a Statement of Objections that alleges that Mastercard, allpay, APS, PFS and Sulion engaged in anti-competitive behaviour by agreeing not to compete or poach each other’s clients...
European Parliament reports on Digital Finance Package legislation
The European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs has published a draft report setting out proposed changes to a range of existing legislation to ensure alignment with the regulation on digital...
PSR publishes plan and budget
The PSR’s annual plan and budget for 2021/22 focuses on what it can do to improve outcomes by encouraging innovation and competition. It will look at scam prevention and access to cash, and will have a focus on...
EU consults on instant payments
The European Commission has launched a targeted consultation on instant payments. Open until 2 June, the consultation seeks to get technical information from PSPs and providers of technical services, with a view to the...
Government urged to reduce barriers to UK-EU services trade
The House of Lords EU Services Sub-Committee has published a report which examines the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and the future UK-EU relationship on trade in services. In terms of financial services...
EU Council backs plans for EU-wide payment solutions
In September 2020, the EU Commission launched its strategy for the further development of the retail payments market in the EU. The European Council has now responded by announcing its full support of the overall aims...
FMLC responds on cryptoasset regulation
FMLC has responded to Treasury’s call for evidence on the regulation of cryptoassets and stablecoins. Unsurprisingly, it notes many legal uncertainties, not least how to identify a “token”, and...
European Parliament issues draft report on proposed markets in crypto-assets regulation
The European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs has issued a draft report containing suggested amendments to the text of a regulation on markets in crypto-assets and amending Directive (EU)...
FCA increases contactless payment thresholds
FCA has published a policy statement outlining the amendments to Article 11 of the strong customer authentication RTS. The changes increase the single transaction threshold for contactless payments from £45 to £100 and...
LSB sets roadmap for CRM Code review
LSB has published its planned activities for 2021 including updates on the wording of the CRM Bode and a call for input. Separate to its original plans it is already working on a review of the provision on its approach...
EBA calls for supervisory action to remove account access hurdles
EBA has published an opinion calling on regulators to ensure banks remove any remaining obstacles that are stopping third party providers from accessing payment accounts. It stresses the need for a consistent...
PSR consults on better consumer protection
The PSR is calling for views on: how to mandate reimbursing victims of APP scams: It thinks that a combination of requiring banks and building societies to publish their APP scam data, having a standardised approach to...
PSR consults on delivery of New Payments Architecture
PSR has launched a consultation on the delivery and regulation of the New Payments Architecture (NPA) which is set to replace the UK’s current Faster Payments and Bacs retail interbank payment system. PSR says...
UK Finance reports on “future ready payments”
UK Finance and PWC have produced a report on the opportunities and challenges for the UK payments industry over the next 10 years. The report looks at how the sector should meet its aims of delivering customer benefits...
LSB publishes CRM Code review
The LSB has published its review into the CRM Code for APP scams. The review of the voluntary code looked to see how effective it has been in providing greater consumer protection, and to see whether it has had an...
CAP guidance on delayed payment services
In December the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) published new guidance on marketing communications for delayed payment services. This specifically relates to those services not regulated by the FCA. The guidance...
FCA consults on changes to SCA-RTS and payment services perimeter guidance
FCA is consulting on: changes to the RTS on SCA. Key changes will include: a new exemption from SCA when customers access their information through an AISP; mandating the use of APIs by ASPSPs to faciliate TPP access to...
Quincecare Duty is limited to agents of the customer and does not extend to individual customers
In a decision that will be welcomed by the banking industry, the High Court in the case of Philipp v Barclays Bank UK plc [2021] EWHC 10 (Comm) has confirmed that the “Quincecare Duty” placed upon banks is...
Scott NodderFCA publishes Covid resilience survey results
FCA has published the results of the survey it sent to 23,000 forms on the real-time effect the pandemic is having on their resilience. Among its conclusions are: failures of firms due to the economic downturn are...
FCA reminds firms to be prepared for Brexit
With the end of the Brexit transition period in sight, the FCA has issued a press release reminding firms to be prepared. The FCA expects firms to have assessed the impact of the changes that will take effect, on both...
Supreme Court dismisses Mastercard’s appeal on collective proceedings
The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by Mastercard against a Court of Appeal ruling that annulled the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (CAT) refusal to grant a collective proceedings order in Mastercard...
BoE Financial Stability Report
The Bank of England published the Financial Stability Report for December. The report sets out the Financial Policy Committee’s view on the stability of the UK financial system and what it is doing to remove or...
APP CRM Code interim funding to continue to June 2021
UK Finance has confirmed that 7 signatories to the APP CRM Code have agreed to extend the interim funding to compensate victims of scams until the end of June 2021. The funding will apply where the customer and the...
EC speaks on evolving payments market
In her speech, EU Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager discussed the impact of the Interchange Fee Regulation and noted that: technology has resulted in a proliferation of payment methods available to...
EPC Report on Payment Threats and Fraud Trends
The European Payments Council (EPC) has published its report on payment threats and fraud trend for 2020. The report attempts to create awareness amongst stakeholders involved in the payments domain to allow them to...
Treasury consults on insolvency changes for payment and e-money firms
HM Treasury is proposing to introduce changes that will help protect customers in the event of a payment or electronic money institution being put into insolvency. The Government says the changes will strengthen...
FCA and PSR Terms of Reference on Access to Cash
On 16 June, the PSR and FCA set out its plans to work with the industry and develop shared solutions to deliver appropriate and sustainable access to cash that meet consumers’ needs, including responding to changing...
EPC publishes the first SRTP scheme rulebook
Following a three-month public consultation, the European Payments Council (EPC) has published the first version of the Single European Payments Area (SEPA) Request-To-Pay (RTP) scheme rulebook. The rulebook covers the...
PSR intends to operate confidentiality ring as part of card-acquiring services market review
The PSR has published a Notice of intention to operate a confidentiality ring following the publication of its interim report in the market review into card-acquiring services in September 2020. Following a request by a...
FCA makes new rules
FCA’s latest Handbook Notice confirms it has made the following rules at its last 3 board meetings: changes to reflect the extension of various SMCR deadlines as a result of the pandemic (made in October); the...
HM Treasury extends consultation deadlines
Financial Services Future Regulatory Framework Review Phase II Consultation – further to the consultation document published on 19 October 2020, the consultation has been extended by one month to 19 February 2021...
EU statement on EU-Japan Joint Financial Regulatory Forum
The European Commission has published a statement on the second meeting of the EU-Japan Joint Financial Regulatory Forum which took place on 20 November. Topics of discussion at the meeting included the impact of Covid...
Pay.UK reports on impact of COVID-19 on SME business banking
Pay.UK published its findings from its research into the impact of COVID-19 on SME business banking. Overall, SMEs are more likely to say that they are satisfied (rather than dissatisfied) with their bank’s...
Latest Denizbank ruling on interpretation of PSD2
The First Chamber of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has made a preliminary ruling in the case of Denizbank AG v Verein fur Konsumenteninformation (Case C-287/19) [ECLI:EU:C:2020:897]. It has clarified the...
Government heralds future financial services regulation
Rishi Sunak has announced a range of measures the UK is now to take to ensure the financial services industry moves forward. In a speech, he praised all the measures the industry has taken to date and through the...
EBA reminds firms to finalise Brexit plans
EBA has reminded firms that, from the end of the transition period, UK firms can no longer provide services to EU customers on a passporting basis. It notes that: UK financial institutions offering services to EU...
Pay.UK: Consumer Protection Landscape
Pay.UK published a paper yesterday providing an overview of the UK consumer protection landscape relating to disputed payment transactions. The paper sets out the payments landscape, the consumer protection landscape...
Feedback to CP20/18 on eIDAS published
The FCA today published PS20/13: Amendments to the open banking identification requirements (eIDAS) certificate). This policy statement sets out the feedback to CP20/18 and sets out the near final rules amending...
HMT consults on financial services regulatory framework post-Brexit
HM Treasury has published a consultation paper in relation to Phase II of its Financial Services Future Regulatory Framework Review. HMT is seeking views on proposals for the financial services regulatory framework post...
FSB issues final report on CIRR toolkit
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published its final report on a toolkit of effective practices for financial institutions’ cyber incident response and recovery (CIRR). The toolkit aims to assist financial...
ESRB publishes Recommendation on identifying legal entities
The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB)’s Recommendation A proposes that: EU legislation incorporates a common EU legal framework governing the identification of legal entities established in the EU that are...
Lords responds to HMT on equivalence
Baroness Donaghy, chair of the House of Lords EU Services Sub-Committee, has responded to HMT’s letter of 21 September which set out the Government’s responses to previous queries of the Sub-Committee on UK...
EBA consults on PSD2 major incident reporting
EBA is consulting on a proposed revision of its guidelines on major incident reporting under PSD2. It wants to make the process better, simpler and more streamlined, and reduce the number of operational incidents that...