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\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tWednesday 25 March 2026 5:45 am
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tWednesday 25 March 2026 10:17 am\n\t<\/p>\n
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Behind the everyday payments we make is a complex web of systems you don\u2019t even notice \u2013 and we mustn\u2019t fall behind, writes Keith Douglas <\/p>\n
When the government published its Payments Forward Plan last month, it set out the course for the retail payments sector over the next three years to deliver its National Payment Vision (NPV). This covers everything from open banking, regulatory reform, stablecoin and cash provision through to fraud strategy and the potential for a digital pound. The starting gun has been fired \u2013 now the ecosystem must deliver the NPV at pace.<\/p>\n
The stakes are high, given the UK\u2019s reputation as a global payments pacemaker. Much of this reflects the wide adoption of digital payments, including through cards and digital wallets. And it also reflects a system that few consumers will have heard about: the Faster Payments System<\/a> (FPS). Introduced in 2008, FPS enables near\u2011instant, 24\/7 money transfers between bank accounts and has become a worldwide model for account-to-account payments.<\/p>\n Innovation will be vital to maintain its standing, anchored by resilience, security, convenience and consumer choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n Like a swan gliding, payments work best when they seem effortless and people don\u2019t see the vigorous paddling beneath the lake. Delivering that friction\u2011free experience, however, requires significant coordination behind the scenes.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also imperative that the UK acts now to seize the benefits on offer. EY estimates that creating more advanced infrastructure to support the growing account\u2011to\u2011account payments market could deliver a \u00a39bn economic boost annually \u2013 the same yearly contribution as English football.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tackling financial fraud<\/p>\n While these foundations take shape, the payments businesses and consumers rely on must continue to withstand ever\u2011evolving fraud threats<\/a>, enabling wages to land on time, bills to be settled, online shopping or SME cash flow.<\/p>\n The UK has an unmatched track record in payments resilience, with its core account-to-account retail payment systems processing more than \u00a327bn a day. As the industry modernises, we must build on this, delivering ever stronger consumer protections. Without the right defences, criminals will exploit gaps faster than we can close them.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tElliptic Integrates With Tempo, the Payments-First Blockchain<\/a><\/p>\n The UK must move decisively to get ahead of the next generation of financial crime. Real\u2011time monitoring, stronger verification and intelligence\u2011led fraud tools aren\u2019t optional; they\u2019re foundations to keep future innovation secure. Payment service providers are part of this battle and already having an impact. Mastercard\u2019s AI\u2011driven Consumer Fraud Risk<\/a>, for example, helped cut authorised push payment fraud by 20 per cent a year after its introduction.<\/p>\n Expanding our payment horizons\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Consumers, businesses and government have different needs, and modern payments must meet them. People now expect considerable choice in how they pay, from cards and open banking to emerging agentic experience and, soon, new forms of digital currency. And they expect these to all work seamlessly across devices.\u00a0<\/p>\n The UK has this chance to lead the next wave of digital payments, creating a system where moving between different forms of money \u2013 from bank deposits to tokenised assets or regulated digital currencies \u2013 is as effortless as today\u2019s contactless transactions.<\/p>\n To realise this future, trust must be embedded from the start. Not only through strong fraud controls, secure digital identities and proof that new and existing payment networks can safely co\u2011exist and draw strength from each other, but also by giving consumers confidence that their money is safe and their rights are clear.\u00a0<\/p>\n Defining the UK\u2019s future payments landscape<\/p>\n The decisions made this year will determine how the UK pays, transacts and moves money for decades. By balancing innovation with resilience, expanding user choice and building a trusted multi\u2011money system, we can secure a globally competitive payments landscape that works for everyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n The public may never see the intense work beneath the surface \u2013 and that\u2019s the point. Our job is to keep the UK payments system gliding like a swan, while together we create a modern, future-proof payments framework.<\/p>\n Keith Douglas is CEO of Vocalink, a Mastercard company\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n