Accessing the UK's Interbank Payment Systems

Issue 234 | 12 January 2022

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has published (January 2022) their latest access and governance report showing trends and developments in interbank payment systems for the period 2019 and 2020.

The report is aimed at anyone with an interest in access trends for interbank systems, and in their governance arrangements. This includes payment system operators, PSPs, existing and prospective indirect access providers and others involved in interbank payments

The full PSR report can be downloaded from the PSR’s website - link: Access and Governance report January 2022.

Whilst there is no substitute for reading the full report (it’s only 38 pages) this edition of Payments:Unpacked Extra summarises the three primary areas of the report into a series of ‘quick fire’ key facts.

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Access and Governance Report on Interbank Payment Systems January 2022

Normally the PSR publishes an annual report on access and governance aspects of the UK’s interbank payment systems. However due to COVID related constraints, this latest report covers the period 2019 and 2020 with references to 2021 where appropriate. The report is the fifth report issued since the creation of the PSR in 2015. The previous reports were published in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The focus and content of this annual report has evolved and reflects the PSR’s revised approach to monitoring impacts and developments in the sector and the development of its strategy.

The scope of the report is limited to the operators of, and access to, the interbank (or ‘account-to-account’) payment systems regulated by the PSR:

• Bacs (Pay.UK)

• Faster Payments (Pay.UK)

• Image Clearing System (Pay.UK)

• CHAPS (Bank of England).

The other systems subjected to the PSR’s regulatory umbrella are not within scope of this report.

The report is based on data received through formal information requests from six indirect access providers that provide PSP’s with agency and non-agency access to the interbank payment systems. Due to their recent entry as indirect access providers Modulr and LHV Bank were not asked to provide data for this reporting period.

In addition the report is informed by a number of other sources including Pay.UK, Bank of England, the FCA and notifications and complaints received by the PSR.

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Direct Access Developments

Key facts within the report:

#1: Number of new direct participants that joined one or more scheme in 2019 was 12, in 2020 it was 6 and in 2021 it was 7. (for 2018 it was 18).

#2: The system operators project that 12 new participants will join the inter-bank payment systems in 2022.