- The Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) is a core part of the
UK's financial infrastructure, and the Bank of England
successfully launched the renewed system in April 2025 at a cost
of £431 million
- Every day, on average, £790 billion worth of transactions are
processed and settled through the RTGS system
- The National Audit Office (NAO) recommends the Bank
prioritises maintaining and enhancing the system to maximise
long-term value, and applies lessons learned from the renewal to
its other digital and business transformation projects
The Bank of England successfully navigated complex risks and
interdependencies to deliver its Real-Time Gross Settlement
(RTGS) renewal programme, incorporating innovation and best
practice in managing this digital transformation, says the NAO.
The RTGS is a critical financial infrastructure that underpins
the stability of the UK's payment systems, including CHAPS, the
UK's high-value payment system and retail payment systems like
Bacs.
In its latest value for money report, the
NAO examined how the Bank managed the RTGS renewal programme to
achieve a new system resilient to future developments and risks.
Overall, the independent public spending watchdog found the
Bank's management of the programme demonstrated value for money,
and good practice in digital transformation, offering lessons for
other government projects and the Bank's wider project
management.
The delivery
Delivered over nine years from initial announcement (January
2016) to implementation (April 2025), the £431 million programme
was completed despite several challenges.
The Bank invested significant resources upfront in planning and
procurement before moving on with design and implementation.
During the planning stages the Bank made three key decisions to
build rather than buy an RTGS, appoint an external delivery
partner, and implement a new technology approach.
The Bank's procurement approach enabled it to refine designs with
three suppliers before signing contracts and featured an
innovative ‘competed design' process where bidders created a
simplified payment system to demonstrate their technical
capability and responsiveness to customer needs. Accenture were
chosen as the main delivery partner.
Programme staffing peaked at over 450 staff in 2022 and 2023,
with active planning and managing of resourcing to make use of
internal payments and technical specialists, alongside external
expertise. To manage potential impacts on other areas in the
Bank, it regularly reviewed dependencies and engaged with other
projects across the Bank's portfolio. It also fostered a
transparent, open culture with strong leadership and
collaborative working between business and technical areas.
All of these are examples of where the Bank's approach to
delivery demonstrated good practice.
Mitigating challenges
To manage risk effectively, the Bank adopted a ‘three lines of
defence' model, through combining internal assurance, oversight
from the risk directorate and internal audit, in addition to
commissioning external assurance.
Four major replans addressed challenges which included a
technology platform change; an external shock caused when the
European Central Bank moved its timetable for a major upgrade
programme which created too much simultaneous change for users;
and technical issues requiring additional testing to resolve.
These replans delayed launch by around 18 months, which the NAO
reported as being at the lower end of delays. In government
digital change programmes NAO has observed delays from one to
eight years.
The most significant challenge was the platform change during the
first replan as it required moving from a shared Bank technology
platform to a programme-specific one. This led to a full reset,
governance changes, and removal of some future enhancements.
The programme's estimated cost rose to £431 million, 15% above
the original £375 million budget set in the 2020 business case,
which included only 11% contingency - lower than industry norms.
Around £23 million of the increase stemmed from the change in the
ECB migration date.
The NAO concluded that given the programme's size, complexity,
and inherent risks, the cost increase is reasonable.
Next steps
With the new RTGS in place, the Bank is improving functionality
over the next two to three years and will need to set long-term
priorities to maintain and improve the system. The NAO recommends
the Bank:
- Applies lessons learned to its other digital and business
transformation projects.
- Sets clear plans for ongoing investment and resourcing to
keep the RTGS and supporting services up to date.
- Understands and manages the impact of higher levels of change
on RTGS users.
- Assesses how effective its interventions to widen access and
reduce barriers to the RTGS are, to make sure it puts the best
mix in place.
, head of the NAO,
said:
“The RTGS is part of critical national infrastructure, providing
a vital foundation to the UK's payments system and contributing
to the resilience and stability of the UK economy.
“The Bank placed a high priority on the RTGS renewal programme
combined with a low tolerance for failure. Its careful planning
and well-managed delivery approach ensured value for money and
set an example of good practice and innovation for future digital
change projects.”
