Last updated: 30 June 2020
Following the Government's advice on Monday 16 March 2020, colleagues at the PSR are now working from home. Engaging with our stakeholders is an essential part of our work and we will now carry this out over the phone, by email or by using other digital networking channels. Unless they are business critical, we will not be attending or hosting face to face meetings or events.
Despite this change to our working pattern, we are seeking to maintain business as usual operations as much as possible. Where there are changes - either related to our regulatory work, or our ways of working owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, or both - we will provide updates via our website and support this using email and our social media channels (LinkedIn and Twitter).
How to contact us
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with your usual contact at the PSR if you have any questions, or want to raise any concerns or challenges you are facing.
Or you can reach us with the details by emailing us at Contact Us. As we are not working from our offices, we are unable to receive any correspondence sent in the post, so please email us wherever possible.
The PSR’s focus
We know this is a challenging time for people and businesses of all sizes. The PSR is closely monitoring the situation and the impact the coronavirus may have on our work now and in the future and, importantly, how our response to those impacts will affect the UK’s payment systems.
Making sure you have the right information at the right time will help us all achieve the right outcomes. Above all, making sure that payment systems continue to work well for everyone and that we are all protected when making and receiving payments is essential.
All updates and information relating to any decision we make and any development that occurs can be found on this page.
Regulating during the coronavirus pandemic
The PSR will not hesitate to take any steps necessary to ensure payment systems continue to work for everyone and markets continue to function well.
We are working closely with the Government, the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority, Competition and Markets Authority and other stakeholders to make sure work is coordinated and aligned with other authorities so that industry has clear direction during this time. We have significant resources focused on our response, both for the organisations we regulate and our colleagues.
During this time, we know that many organisations will need to review their current arrangements to address the evolving situation while managing the risks to their employees, customers and the impact on the market. We expect them to be taking reasonable steps to ensure they are prepared to meet the challenges coronavirus could pose to customers and staff. Regulated parties should report to us immediately if they believe they will be in difficulty or if circumstances could lead to them being unable to offer the full range of their services. Where we have already made adjustments to our work and requirements, updates will be included on this page, for example our updated approach to Confirmation of Payee; where we extended the deadline for our Call for Input on competition in the UK's New Payments Architecture; and how we are working to support access to cash during the Covid-19 pandemic. We are also reviewing when we reach out to stakeholders to take part in our annual perceptions survey, with more details to follow in the coming weeks.
We will continue to update this page with information over the coming weeks.
Updates:
PSR and FCA joint work on coverage of access to cash - Published 30 June 2020
Update on our work supporting cash access during the COVID-19 pandemic - Published 8 April 2020
Supplier relief due to COVID-19 - Published 7 April 2020
Update to our plans for the implementation of Confirmation of Payee - Published 20 March 2020