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The Payments Vision Delivery Committee has published the Payments Forward Plan, setting out its regulatory roadmap for the payments sector over the next three years. This builds on the strategic direction established by the government's National Payments Vision. The Committee consists of HM Treasury, the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Payment Systems Regulator.
The Plan sets out upcoming initiatives across retail and wholesale payments, including digital assets.
Modernising the regulatory framework
The Plan outlines timelines for various initiatives to modernise existing regulations, including bringing the PSR into the FCA, reviewing retained EU law, and implementing a fee cap for systemic payment systems. Notably, it states that HM Treasury will launch a consultation in Q2 2026 about the review of retained EU law relating to payments, and the FCA will publish an accompanying engagement paper.
Innovations in retail payments
The Plan sets out expected timelines for important initiatives, including the retail payments infrastructure design and delivery programme, stablecoin reforms, and open banking. It confirms that a consultation on the work of the Retail Payments Infrastructure Board will be issued in spring 2026. It also outlines indicative timings for open banking developments, including an FCA consultation paper on long-term regulatory framework interface rules expected in Q3 2026, followed by a policy statement in Q1 2027. In addition, HM Treasury intends to introduce a statutory instrument under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 in Q4 2026, which will confer relevant oversight powers on the FCA.
Consumer protection
In addition, the Plan covers timings for projects including authorised push payment fraud, anti-money laundering, the Payment and Electronic Money Special Administration Regime, the FCA Consumer Duty and amendments to the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
The initiatives will make significant changes to the payments landscape in the UK.
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