The payments landscape continues to evolve and this blog shares some of the topics that caught my attention during the last three months. If you think I’ve missed anything important, do please send an email to technical@treasurers.org.
Regulatory announcements
All firms conducting sanctions screening and any third-party screening vendors that source UK designations will be affected by this change. This includes banks, asset managers, insurers, professional services, marketplaces, fintechs, crypto firms, and trade and commodity companies. Additionally, non-UK businesses operating outside of the country but screening for UK exposure should also update their sources and controls.
By 28 January 2026, these companies must replace all use of OFSI Group IS with the UKSL Unique ID for new designated persons (DPs), retain historic OFSI Group IDs for DPs designated before 28 January 2026, as they remain valid, and begin adapting systems immediately. If using third-party screeners, firms must contact suppliers to confirm necessary adjustments, and use this transition period to ensure full readiness before the Consolidated List closes.
- The Payments Vision Delivery Committee - comprising HM Treasury, the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority, and the Payment Systems Regulator published its strategy for the next generation of UK retail payments infrastructure.
The strategy is anchored around five strategic outcomes that build on innovation, competition and security and its delivery will benefit consumers and businesses that rely on this vital infrastructure. Expanding payment choices, promoting inclusion, combating financial crime, and ensuring resilience will help the UK to deliver a world-class payments experience.
Interesting reports
- The Financial Stability Board published a Progress Report for 2025 for the G20. Key findings included that:
- The global speed of wholesale cross-border payments has improved, possibly laying the foundation for faster retail payments and remittances in the future.
- The speed of remittances has improved globally, which means those end-users relying on financial support from family members abroad are receiving payments more quickly.
- The average global cost of such payments remains high, notwithstanding some improvements in the most expensive regions with a wide range of variation across regions, with sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia lagging in terms of speed of receiving wholesale cross-border payments.
- Improvements in the speed of wholesale payments and remittances were seen in the Eurozone and in the Middle East respectively. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the fastest region for receiving remittances, though costs remain high with Europe and Central Asia remaining the region with the least expensive retail cross-border payments.
- Open Banking Limited provided data up to end of September 2025 showing the increased use of Open Banking and the increased use of Variable Recurring Payments – especially in sectors such as HMRC tax payments, retail giants like Just Eat and Tesco, and travel brands such as Ryanair. Growing consumer and business trust is driving momentum and uptake across different sectors.
- Open Finance Report 2025 was issued identifying the potentials of a number of initiatives.
- Capgemini released its 2026 annual report. Focusing on card payments it found that:
- Volumes of non-cash transactions are expected to rise from 1,685 billion in 2024 to 3,540 billion by 2029, with digital wallets and Account-to-Account (A2A) transfers steadily replacing traditional card payments
- Rigid offerings alienate merchants, with only 23% receiving personalised Value Added Services from banks. PayTechs, by contrast, use data to tailor solutions across segments.
- By embracing innovation, adapting to new expectations and solutions, and harnessing their trusted relationships and rich data resources, banks can redefine what it means to service merchants in today’s digital economy.
- UK Finance released its UK Payment Markets 2025 report. Key findings included:
- Faster Payments and other remote banking totalled 5.6 billion payments and are now the second most used payment method in the UK
- Cash payments accounted for 4.4 billion payments, for the first time accounting for less than 10% of all payments
- 25% of people used Buy Now Pay Later services at least once in 2024, compared with 14% the previous year
Naresh Aggarwal
17 November 2025
