Welcome to issue 56 of Payments, Payments, Payments - in this edition we seek to unpack the new Request to Pay service from Pay.UK.

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What is Request to Pay?

Pay.UK describe the new Request to Pay (RtP) service as:

….a secure messaging service framework launched on 29th May 2020. It is an overlay on top of existing payments infrastructure as a new flexible way to manage and settle bills between businesses and organisations as well as among friends.

For each ‘request’, the payer will be able to pay in full, pay in part, ask for more time or decline to pay and begin a dialogue with the requester. It gives more control to the person being asked to pay, but it also gives the Biller all the information they will need to reconcile the payment when it arrives.

The Framework is intended to help FinTechs and PSP's to develop their services that interoperate with each other to deliver Request to Pay to their customers.

Pay.UK

How does Request to Pay work?

Pay.UK have just launched the following video which seeks to unpack the RtP service:

Ten things you should know about the new Request to Pay (RtP) service from Pay.UK

1: RtP is a payment agnostic messaging service - encompassing Faster Payments, Direct Debit and Open Banking payment options.

2: RtP compliments Direct Debit - the vast majority of regular bills are paid by Direct Debit but RtP offers a solution for those that don’t use Direct Debits or for more adhoc payment requests.

3: RtP offers extra ‘visibility, flexibility and control’ of who you pay, how much you pay and when you pay.

4: The RtP ‘eco-system’ has three parts:

• Centre: The standards, rules, governance authority and certification authority - this function is performed by Pay.UK.

• Repositories: The routing and storing of RtP messages - this function can be performed by banks’ Payment Service Providers, utilities and technical vendors.

• User Front End: An App, web or offline interface to view, send and respond to RtP messages - this function can be performed by Fintechs, Payment Service Providers, banks and technical vendors.

5: An end user has to accept a payment request before the first RtP payment can be made.

6: Learning from Direct Debit and Current Account Switching Service, RtP will have its own service mark which will be used by accredited repositories and front end providers:

7: We can expect the RtP service to develop over time to include enhancements such as:

• Interactive Advance Notifications - to increase the certainty of payments.

• Bulk payment submissions

• Remittance advices

• Charity donations

• Third party payments

• Return / refund requests

• Cash and Point of Sale settlement - allowing a user to receive a request and pay cash in at, say, the Post Office

• International requests

8: RtP messaging can be used by billers to replace paper or e-billing and can encourage an early ‘can’t pay’ or challenge interaction.

9: RtP messaging will have a cost which is overlaid on the cost of the chosen payment choice (e.g. Faster Payments, Direct Debit or Open Banking).

10: A decision to reject, defer or split a RtP payment request must be consistent with the underlying contract between the entity supplying the good or service and the person consuming the good or service - otherwise penalty fees may be applied or the supply of the service may be disrupted.

More

For more about the RtP service visit:

www.requesttopay.co.uk

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