The PSR Strategy

Payments are an essential part of daily life and it’s the PSR’s job to ensure that the systems underpinning them work well for everyone.

We want everyone to have access to payment services they need – and to be sufficiently protected when using them. In our new strategy, we set out our priorities and what we aim to achieve over the next five years.

The strategy recognises areas where payments markets and systems are working effectively, but also highlights where more work is needed. It brings together our ideas for how payment systems and services should adapt for the future and focuses on our core role - to protect the interests of people and businesses, and to promote effective competition and innovation in payments.

Chris Hemsley, the PSR’s Managing Director, introduces the strategy:

Our strategic priorities

Our final strategy identifies four strategic priorities for the next five years. These are:

1. Ensure users have continued access to the payment services they rely on and support a choice of payment options.
2. Ensure users are sufficiently protected when using the UK's payment systems.
3. Promote competition between UK payment systems and the markets supported by them; protecting users where that competition is not sufficient.
4. Act to ensure the interbank systems provide the infrastructure, rules and incentives that foster innovation and competition in payments.

Natalie Timan, Head of Strategy, Analysis and Monitoring outlines the next steps:

How we have responded to feedback

This final strategy has not significantly changed from the document consulted on last year, but the responses have helped identify some areas to amend or clarify. For example, we have emphasised the importance of near-term outcomes as well as longer-term ones. In practical terms this clarifies that, as we work to develop competition, we may need to act to protect users until competition has time to take effect.

Linked to this, we have recently announced new work to examine card scheme fees and cross-border interchange fees, including considering whether shorter-term measures would be appropriate until we develop and implement any longer-term measures to introduce more competition.

We have also adjusted our fourth priority to better reflect the changes taking place now and in the future to UK interbank payments. This makes clear that as we work towards good outcomes for all interbank payments, this includes those initiated through Open Banking services.

How to find out more and get involved

We will be hosting a webinar on Thursday 27 January 10:00 – 12:00 to talk to stakeholders about key areas in the new strategy and hear their views. More information about this can be found on our events page.

The strategy sets our vision for the next five years; we will publish our Annual Plan in March 2022 which will detail our work plan for the forthcoming financial year.

We have also produced a summary version of the strategy, which you can find below.

For any queries or to speak with a member of the team, please contact psrstrategy@psr.org.uk.