In a speech to be given this week, the Prime Minister will set
out plans for the future of payments regulation.
The Government's announcement is a pragmatic next step in
simplifying and clarifying payments regulation. The Payment
Systems Regulator welcomes the government's commitment to
maintaining effective regulation of payment systems, which was a
gap before the PSR was set up.
Since then, the payments sector has dramatically changed,
particularly over recent years. The PSR has played a central
role, supporting open banking and innovation, opening up access
to payment systems, promoting competition, and introducing world
leading protections for victims of fraud. Colleagues should
rightly be proud of all they have achieved.
We're committed to working with government, the FCA and the Bank
of England as decisions are taken on the transfer of regulatory
responsibilities and, when they are, help ensure the process is
smooth. Legislation will take time, but we do not need to wait to
realise the benefits of an even more streamlined regulatory
approach. Doing so builds on recent work bringing the PSR and FCA
closer together. We have, for example, already joined the
managing director of the PSR role with that of executive director
of payments and digital finance at the FCA.
In the meantime, as the Government has been clear, there is an
important role still to do on ensuring payment systems are
competitive, innovative and safe.
