Hannah Nixon, Managing Director of the PSR, said:
“UK payment systems process somewhere in the region of £75 trillion a year and play a part in almost every payment we make, so it’s vital they work well.
“We have worked closely with the CMA during the review and we share their concerns, in particular that indirect participants of payment systems – which are most new and smaller banks - may be at a competitive disadvantage compared with direct members – typically the larger well known banks.
“As highlighted in the CMA's report, these are concerns we are already investigating. For example, we have already taken steps to make it easier to get access to a payment system and this will make life easier for those, such as challenger banks, to provide payment services.
“We are also in the middle of an in depth market review exploring concerns that have been raised about barriers to gaining indirect access, in particular a lack of transparency around information and the limited choice of providers of indirect access. We will be publishing our interim findings early next year.
“We continue to work closely with the CMA and other financial regulators to help drive a more competitive UK banking industry.”
