UK payments regulation, open banking, FCA, PSR, scheme governance
The FCA opened consultation on CP26/13: Cryptoasset Perimeter Guidance on 15 April 2026 (closes 3 June 2026), completing the FCA side of the UK’s dual-track stablecoin regime. On the Bank of England side, the £20,000 retail cap, £10 million business cap and 60:40 backing split in the November 2025 proposals face sustained industry pushback.
HM Treasury’s 21 April 2026 package consolidates the PSR into the FCA and integrates payment services and e-money regulation with the FSMA 2000 framework.
Quick answer. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is the UK regulator for designated payment systems under Part 5 of the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 (FSBRA 2013). HM Treasury has consulted on abolishing the PSR and transferring its functions to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The consultation closed on 20 October 2025 and a…
In short: The UK’s open banking advantage is an infrastructure advantage, not an interface one. A shared directory, a common dispute management system and a governed API standard, built out under the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017, make the rails usable at scale. That infrastructure is the platform on which successor Smart Data regimes, enabled…
In short: UK payment firms reimbursed £173 million to APP fraud victims in year one of the PSR’s mandatory regime under Specific Direction 20. The payments sector bears all reimbursement costs, but APP fraud originates across telecoms, social media and messaging platforms. The Q2 2026 FCA/PSR review will consider whether the current single-sector liability model…
From 15 July 2026, BNPL firms must hold FCA authorisation or rely on the Temporary Permissions Regime. What PS26/1 and SI 2025/859 require now.
The FCA supplementary safeguarding regime under CASS 15 takes effect on 7 May 2026. This compliance checklist covers the operational requirements for payment institutions and e-money institutions: daily reconciliation, monthly reporting, annual audit, resolution packs and third-party due diligence.
The PSR FCA consolidation transfers all PSR functions to the FCA. What changes for payment service providers, scheme participants, and payment system operators.
The FCA and PSR regulate UK payment services, payment systems and electronic money. Guide to authorisation, enforcement powers and the PSR consolidation.
Agentic AI payments raise an unresolved question in UK payments law: can an AI agent give valid consent under PSRs 2017 Reg 67? Analysis of the regulatory gap and what it means for fintechs and payment institutions.
Quick answer. The FCA’s Safeguarding Supplementary Regime takes effect on 7 May 2026, requiring payment and e-money institutions to meet new daily reconciliation, reporting and audit obligations on relevant funds. FCA safeguarding reform is now weeks away from taking effect. The FCA published its Payments Regulatory Priorities report on 25 March 2026, confirming that keeping…
Quick answer. The Payments Forward Plan published by the Bank of England, FCA, PSR and HM Treasury is the UK’s first coordinated three-year roadmap for retail, wholesale and digital asset payments, and the clearest signal yet of the shape of future rulemaking. On 26 February 2026, the Payments Vision Delivery Committee published the Payments Forward…