Dan Moore, Head of Strategy, Analysis and Engagement invites industry to get involved in the PSR's latest call for information - focused on digital wallets.
Digital wallets are a key part of how the payments landscape is changing. They have become a popular, easy and convenient way of paying for many people, including around three-quarters of young adults.1 The important benefits of using digital wallets include their convenience, allowing people to log in easily and securely (for example, via fingerprint or facial recognition), and to make payments using their mobile phones, smart watches and other devices.
Some wallets, such as those provided by Apple and Google, can store more than just payment cards. Indeed, many of us are using them to keep our loyalty cards, or our train or event tickets, in a convenient single location on our devices.
Digital wallets represent one of the most significant ways in which big technology firms are impacting the payments landscape, helping to drive change. We want to better understand their benefits and any implications from their use.
This reflects that a key part of the PSR being a successful regulator in promoting competition, supporting innovation and protecting users, is that we must be responsive to new developments in the payments landscape – scanning the horizon to identify new trends, such as the increased role of big technology forms in payments. At our Annual Plan 2024/25 event in May, our Chair, Aidene Walsh, confirmed that we are working closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to improve our understanding of the issues raised by the growth of digital wallets. This follows a similar announcement by the Chief Executive of the FCA, Nikhil Rathi, at the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum in April.
It is essential that we better understand what digital wallets mean for payments, now and in the future. Therefore, the PSR and FCA have launched a joint Call for Information on the potential impact of digital wallets on payment users and the wider payments market. This will complement our previous work on contactless mobile payments and the FCA’s work on big tech activity in financial services.2
We welcome participation from all stakeholders and users across the payments landscape. We very much encourage you to get in touch with us if you would like to discuss the impact of digital wallets in further detail. We look forward to engaging with you on this important issue.
You can email us at to FCA-PSR-digitalwallets@psr.org.uk or write to us at:
Digital wallets CfI
Payment Systems Regulator
12 Endeavour Square
London E20 1JN
- Key findings from the FCA's Financial Lives May 2022 survey showed 74% adults aged 18 – 34 used mobile wallets in the 12 months leading to May 2022.
- The FCA explored Big Tech entry and expansion in retail financial services (2023) and ran a Call for Input on data asymmetry between Big Tech and firms in financial services (2024).