The UK government recently released its National Payments Vision whitepaper, outlining key aspects of the country’s payments ecosystem, particularly the need to reduce regulatory congestion. Notably, it highlights the vital role of open banking in shaping the future of the UK’s payments landscape.
“It is the government’s ambition that seamless account-to-account payments are developed as a ubiquitous payment method,” the paper noted. “For open banking to scale and help deliver more competition and innovation in the market, it needs to transition to a sustainable longterm regulatory framework.”
Last year, the UK processed 29.1 billion payments made using credit or debit cards. The government aims to reduce this reliance by offering greater choices to consumers and merchants—a move designed to spur innovation and downward competitive pressure payment costs.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been assigned to take the lead on regulating open banking, with a new central body to eventually oversee the country’s efforts. Additionally, the FCA will explore potential interoperability between open banking and other smart data schemes, aligning with the government’s vision for the open banking framework to serve as the foundation for open finance.
To that end, the UK is developing a pilot program for variable recurring payments (VRPs), an open banking-enabled payment method initially focused on a limited number of low-risk use cases, such as bill payments. VRPs function similarly to direct debit transactions, transferring funds between accounts at regular intervals. These transactions settle in real time and are customizable.
An Encouraging Response
Reactions to the initiative have mostly been positive. Charlotte Crosswell, chair of London’s Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology, wrote on LinkedIn that the paper created “a roadmap for creating a secure, innovative, and competitive payments sector.”
“This will strengthen the foundations of today’s ecosystem and steer future activity to drive innovation, facilitate competition and ensure security,” she added.
In some respects, the National Payments Vision aligns with a recommendation issued last month by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Building on Section 1033, a long-dormant part of the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB advocated that consumers should be able to transfer their financial data between institutions freely and without encumbrances. As part of establishing a framework for open banking, individuals will gain full control of their financial data, including the ability to revoke a bank’s access to their information at any time.