UK payments stuck with ‘bolted on’ European regulation, says PSR boss
The boss of the UK’s payments regulator has said the body’s consolidation with the City watchdog will allow it to ditch overhanging red tape from Europe.
David Geale, who heads up the Payments System Regulator (PSR) and leads on payments at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said: “There are bits of payments regulation that have been bolted on and carried across from European regulation.”
The watchdog boss said the alignment of the two bodies would foster the “consistency that we’re looking to provide”.
“Consolidation does offer us a chance to bring the broad expertise of PSR and the FCA even closer together and to streamline how we deliver,” Geale told City and Financial Global’s Payments Regulation and Innovation Summit on Monday.
The alignment of the two regulators was announced by Rachel Reeves last year as the Treasury swore to tear down “red tape” in a bid to boost growth.
Geale noted the move marked an “evolution” as opposed to a “revolution”, but this comes as officials face renewed pressure over the pace of the payments overhaul.
Labour’s attempt to boost the industry has received criticism for falling flat over the last 12 months amid slow progress and a lack of meaningful change.
Payments industry ‘waiting for coin to drop’ on progress
The summit’s chair Natalie Lewis, head of payments at Travers Smith, applauded recent regulatory progress but said the industry was still “waiting for the coin to drop”.
“We still seem to be waiting for something to happen.”
It comes after the Payments Association – which serves as the industry body for the payment sector – said current progress constitutes more of a “reshuffle than a reform”.
The body said the industry had “ambiguity around the respective roles and responsibilities of the FCA and the Bank of England” and called “for these to be clearly defined and communicated”.
Geale noted a major part of progress would be the publication of the Payments Forward Plan in the “next couple of months” which is expected to provide a roadmap of initiatives for the government’s National Payments Vision.
The industry is also looking towards the Open Finance Road pencilled in for March 2026, which will give updates on data sharing beyond just banking into mortgages, pensions, and insurance.