The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has fined Bank of Ireland UK plc (BOIUK) £3,779,300 for failing to implement Confirmation of Payee (CoP) within the mandated timeframe, leaving more than 1.14 million new payees and £6.9 billion in payments without the safeguard. The enforcement action relates to BOIUK’s failure to comply with the ‘send’ requirements under paragraph 3.1 of Specific Direction 17 (SD17). As a Group 1 payment service provider (PSP), BOIUK was required to have

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) have issued a joint statement providing important regulatory clarity on open banking pricing models, specifically in relation to commercial Variable Recurring Payments (cVRPs). The statement confirms that, at this stage, the regulators will not prioritise a Competition Act 1998. Investigation into the centralised access fee pricing model being developed by the UK Payments Initiative for cVRPs. Comme

The High Court has upheld the Payment Systems Regulator’s (PSR) authority to regulate payment systems, backing its powers to impose a cap on cross-border interchange fees. The judgment, delivered on 15 January 2026, represents a significant affirmation of the PSR’s statutory remit and its role in safeguarding competition and service user interests across the UK payments landscape. The legal challenge arose in response to the PSR’s proposal to cap cross-border interchange fees

When the UK Fintech Academic Network convened in May 2025, a provocative question echoed across its panels and breakouts: has open banking become a white elephant? Eight months later, that critique still surfaces in boardrooms and fintech forums, but it increasingly collides with evidence that open banking has moved from “initiative” to embedded infrastructure. A project once heralded as a revolution in consumer finance is now being judged for its limited visibility and uneve

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has announced a significant regulatory intervention aimed at improving transparency, governance and oversight in the UK card payments market, following concerns over rising scheme and processing fees charged by Visa and Mastercard. The measures mark a decisive step to address what the regulator has identified as a lack of effective competition and insufficient fee transparency. Card payments play a central role in the UK economy, yet the PS

The Payments Vision Delivery Committee has announced its strategy to shape the next generation of UK retail payments infrastructure. Bringing together the Treasury, Bank of England, Financial Conduct Authority and Payment Systems Regulator, the initiative marks a key milestone in delivering the government’s National Payments Vision and its ambition for a modern, inclusive and secure payments ecosystem. The new strategy outlines five strategic outcomes focused on innovation, c

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published a new report revealing that white labelling – where financial products or services are offered under another company’s brand – is now used by more than a third of banks across the EU. The findings underscore a rapid shift in financial distribution models driven by digitalisation, platformisation, and partnerships between regulated and non-regulated entities. According to the EBA’s 2025 Spring Risk Assessment Questionnaire, 35

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced a major new partnership and the launch of two TechSprints to fast-track the UK’s transition towards open finance, marking a significant step in its commitment to drive digital innovation across financial services. The initiative follows the FCA’s January letter to the Prime Minister, in which it pledged to use its powers to accelerate open finance and explore its potential benefits, particularly in supporting small and mediu

For the past decade, blockchain, tokenisation and stablecoins have been paraded as the future of finance. They are often described as...

Real-time payments (RTP) have rapidly become a defining feature of modern banking. With systems like the UK’s Faster Payments, the EU’s...

The application of artificial intelligence (AI) to the legislative process is rapidly moving from theory to practice. While governments...

As the global financial system becomes increasingly digital, the UK faces a critical choice. Should it issue a central bank digital...