Last week’s Mansion House announcements have set the stage for a major step forward for the delivery of the UK’s retail payments infrastructure.

For those of us working at the heart of payments, the Bank of England’s update—delivered through the Payments Vision Delivery Committee (PVDC)—was a major moment. It signalled not just a strategic reset but a decisive new model that puts long-term resilience, innovation, and public confidence at the forefront of UK payments.

At UK Finance, we strongly welcome the new approach.

The next step in modernising UK payments

For years, the UK’s retail payments infrastructure has quietly underpinned our digital economy—processing billions of transactions, supporting commerce, and enabling new forms of financial interaction. But the underlying systems, including Faster Payments, Bacs and ICS, are reaching the limits of their design. 

The PVDC’s announcement confirmed the establishment of two critical entities:

• A Retail Payments Infrastructure Board (RPIB), chaired by the Bank of England, to provide strategic oversight and ensure public interest alignment; and
• A new industry-led Delivery Company (DeliveryCo), to be responsible for designing and delivering the next-generation retail payments infrastructure.

This twin-track model—a central strategic body and an industry delivery vehicle—is something UK Finance has long advocated for. It reflects best practice from other sectors and international experience. Crucially, it provides the joined-up governance and accountability needed to deliver major public-private programmes with lasting impact.

Why it matters

These aren’t just governance reforms—they’re practical enablers of real outcomes. If implemented well, this new framework can:

• Unlock investment in modern, resilient platforms;
• Foster competition and innovation by creating more interoperable and inclusive rails;
• Support the future of money, including digital forms and tokenised assets;
• And give the industry and the public confidence in a credible long-term roadmap.

The fact that the Bank of England is stepping more directly into retail payments is also a significant institutional shift. It reflects just how central these systems are to the UK’s economic resilience, financial inclusion, and digital competitiveness.

Our Managing Director of Payments and Innovation, Jana Mackintosh, commented:

“We strongly welcome the Bank of England’s announcement around our payments infrastructure.

“The new framework, led by the Bank of England and coupled with strong industry collaboration, is key to providing strategic direction and ongoing commitment to the National Payments Vision.

“We support establishing a new industry-led delivery company and we congratulate Vim Maru on his appointment as chair-designate. This will unlock investment into our payments infrastructure and support greater innovation in retail payments and the future of money, including digital and tokenised forms.

“We look forward to continuing to work alongside the government, the Bank of England, and other stakeholders, to ensure the UK retain its position as a world leader in payments.”

Supporting stability while enabling change

It’s vital to recognise that transformation must be built on stability. We fully support the clear recognition in the Bank’s publications that Pay.UK will continue to steward the current infrastructure. Ongoing service delivery—across Bacs, ICS and Faster Payments—remains mission-critical. There can be no trade-off between today’s reliability and tomorrow’s innovation.

DeliveryCo’s success will hinge not just on bold ambition, but on pragmatic sequencing, clear governance, and strong coordination with current infrastructure operators.

Getting DeliveryCo right

This isn’t just a task of technical implementation—it’s a chance to build a new model for industry collaboration that brings in voices across the ecosystem: banks, fintechs, PSPs, and end user groups alike.

We were particularly pleased to see the announcement of Vim Maru as Chair-designate of DeliveryCo. With deep financial services experience and a reputation for driving strategic transformation, Vim brings momentum and credibility to this next phase. We look forward to working closely with him as DeliveryCo gets off the ground.

What’s next?

The Bank of England has confirmed it will publish a full strategy in the autumn, setting out the detailed direction for retail payments reform. This will reflect input from across the ecosystem and align with the pillars of the National Payments Vision: innovation, competition, and security.

As that work continues, UK Finance stands ready to support:

• The successful mobilisation of DeliveryCo;
• The effective operation of the new RPIB;
• And the broader goal of ensuring that the UK remains a global leader in payments.

In a world of rapid digital change, the way money moves is more than a technical issue—it’s a question of national stability and competitiveness, financial inclusion, and economic growth.

We look forward to being part of this next chapter.

You can read the PVDC’s update here: Payments Vision Delivery Committee Update