The Retail Payments Infrastructure Board (RPIB), chaired by the Bank of England, has opened a consultation on the systems that could eventually replace the infrastructure behind the UK’s everyday bank transfers.

Responses will help decide what the new core should handle, how firms connect to it and which services could be shared across the payments market. The consultation closes on 11 September 2026.

Victoria Cleland, chair of the RPIB, said: “Working together, we have a real opportunity to transform the UK’s retail payments infrastructure. Our vision is for an infrastructure that remains resilient and trusted, while providing a platform for innovation that responds to users’ needs as the payments landscape evolves.”

Pay.UK will continue operating Faster Payments and Bacs as the new infrastructure is developed. Responsibility for building and running the replacement core will eventually pass to a new industry-led delivery company.

New payment journeys

Faster Payments and Bacs currently support services including immediate transfers, salary payments, recurring transactions and payments made in batches. The consultation proposes retaining those functions and improving the way they operate.

Account-to-account payments at physical and online checkouts are among the additions under consideration. Customers would pay merchants directly from their bank accounts, with an immediate confirmation showing whether the transaction had been accepted or declined.

Payments could also be sent using an alias, such as a phone number or email address, removing the need to enter an account number and sort code.

Advanced delegated payments would allow someone to authorise a trusted person, carer or software agent to make specified payments on their behalf. Other proposals include programmable transactions governed by agreed conditions and deferred payments that can be initiated during a temporary loss of connectivity.

The core may eventually need to process payments involving different forms of money. Someone paying with a regulated stablecoin, for example, could send funds to a recipient who chooses to receive commercial bank money.

A possible digital pound is also considered in the design, although the Bank of England and HM Treasury have yet to decide whether one will be introduced.

Wider access to the core

Proposed design principles include modular technology that can be updated in stages, capacity to add new functions and fair access for regulated firms that meet the required financial crime, liquidity and resilience standards.

Standardised application programming interfaces could make it easier for firms to connect without building bespoke integrations. Shared services under consideration include an alias directory, fraud-data analytics and common standards covering payment messages, credentials and request-to-pay services.

Janine Hirt, CEO of fintech industry body Innovate Finance, said companies wanted cheaper and faster account-to-account settlement, greater capacity and improved data capabilities.

She said the design should remain flexible as technology develops and support the exchange of regulated stablecoins and tokenised deposits with cash and commercial bank deposits.

“In future we also need to ensure that new forms of digital money, like stablecoins and tokenised deposits, can be exchanged with cash and commercial bank deposits, with a sustainable commercial model.”

Iana Dimitrova, CEO of global payments infrastructure provider OpenPayd, said the consultation’s inclusion of advanced delegated payments, programmability and interoperability reflected the broader requirements of the digital economy.

“The opportunity now is to design infrastructure frameworks that enable banks, fintechs, payment providers and digital asset businesses to innovate on a level playing field,” she said. “The design choices made in response to this consultation will determine whether that’s possible.”

Cash and fraud protections

The consultation considers whether some fraud-prevention capabilities could be shared across different payment methods and forms of money.

Possible measures include common fraud-data services, verification of payee credentials, stronger transaction tracing and digital dispute resolution. Automated and delegated payments could also carry information showing how they were initiated, alongside limits and recovery procedures.

Questions over reimbursement and liability sit outside the consultation. The core would instead provide the information and functions needed to apply the relevant consumer protections.

LINK CEO John Howells focused on how the system would serve cash users and people who rely on somebody else to help manage their finances.

“Solving these at an infrastructure level is critical if the design is going to be inclusive and safe to use for everyone, whether you are a confident digital adopter, a cash user, or one of the 11 million people who support someone else with their money,” he said.

LINK, which operates the UK’s cash-machine network, is also developing proposals for contactless transactions at ATMs.

Industry pushes for delivery dates

A timetable for construction and migration has yet to be set. More detailed plans will follow once the high-level design and approach to building the infrastructure are clearer.

Migration could happen in stages, with existing and replacement systems operating alongside each other for a limited period. Pay.UK would work with the Delivery Company and participating financial institutions during the transition.

Andrew Ducker, senior payments consultant at payments technology company Icon Solutions, said the industry needed enough certainty to make investment decisions.

He called for improvements to Faster Payments and Bacs over the next three years, alongside preparations for a wider infrastructure renewal that could take seven to 10 years.

“The key challenge now will be ensuring the consultation translates later this year into practical progress,” Ducker said.

Hirt also called for the design work to move fast, arguing that the next stage should produce a blueprint capable of delivering benefits for consumers, businesses and merchants.

“The consultation is comprehensive in seeking views on these points and we will be digesting it carefully with our payments ecosystem,” she said. “These upgrades can and should be built quickly. The next step is to turn this into a practical blueprint that can be actioned to start delivering benefits for consumers, businesses and merchants.”

Once responses have been reviewed, the RPIB will develop the high-level design that the industry-led Delivery Company will take forward.