What are the biggest near term challenges for the New Payments Architecture?
Issue 443 | 27 January 2023
Welcome to this New Payments Architecture update from Payments:Unpacked - in this special NPA subscriber edition we feature a view point from the Payment Systems Regulator, an update from Pay.UK and highlight a connected resource from SWIFT.
If you are a ‘free’ or ‘premium’ newsletter subscriber you can upgrade to the NPA version of Payments:Unpacked here.
What are the biggest near term challenges for the New Payment Architecture?
In this short clip from a recent Payments:Unpacked podcast Nick Davey from the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) offers his view on the biggest near-term challenges for the UK's New Payments Architecture.
Listen to the whole podcast:
Pay.UK Programme Update
Pay.UK have published an update on its progress in developing the New Payments Architecture. The full update covers engagement, testing and new ways to connect - you’ll find a summary of these updates below along with links to the Pay.UK briefing notes.
In addition to these aspects of the NPA, Shane Warman’s (NPA Programme Director) update has provided a helpful update on the progress being made by the programme.
On progress in 2022 Shane says:
We made significant progress in 2022 in moving through our discovery phase and into vendor selection. We completed our customer Business Impact Assessments, conducted an extensive gap fit process and issued our final RFP to vendors. We shared version two of our Master Test Strategy, our Product and Submission Option factsheets, and our latest Technical Specification with our direct customers. We then closed out the year with final responses from our vendors, and submission of our scope non-object to the Payment Systems Regulator and Financial Market Infrastructure Directive the Bank of England.
On plans for 2023:
We are now in a strong position going into 2023. In Q1 and Q2 we will be evaluating our vendor submissions before working to gain regulatory approval for our vendor, when selected, and assessing what that will mean in terms of technical design, regulatory requirements and business perspectives. In Q2 and Q3 delivery will begin in earnest as we commence the build for our NPA environments, with a focus on testing and certification with the wider industry.
Moving forward Pay.UK expect to see an increase in pace on the NPA programme as they work with their customers to gain their commitment to the NPA - focusing on signing contracts with Pay.UK’s customers and the Master Services Agreement MSA with the chosen vendor.
Read Shane’s full update here: update from the NPA Programme Director.
Testing the New Payments Architecture
Pay.UK’ s Head of Quality Assurance, Alun Morgan details the testing plans in place to support a seamless migration from the established infrastructure to the new payments platform for the future.