Included in this issue: New Payment System Operator formed; European Commission summary of contributions to its consultation on FinTech; UK Card Expenditure Statistics: July 2017 and more...

UK

New Payment System Operator formed

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and Bank of England (BoE) has announced that the Payment System Operator Delivery Group (PSODG) has completed the necessary steps to deliver against the mandate that the regulators tasked it with. Following the appointment of Melanie Johnson as its first chair, work will continue at pace to deliver the New Payment Systems Operator (NPSO) by the end of 2017. With the NPSO now taking the lead, the PSR and the BoE have confirmed the closure of the PSODG.

PSR, 13 September 2017

UK Card Expenditure Statistics: July 2017

The number of card payments increased to 1.39 billion in July, largely because of the migration of cash payments to card and the increased use of contactless. Total spending was £57.8 billion, up from £54.2 billion in July 2016. The number of card payments increased to 1.39 billion in July, largely because of the migration of cash payments to card and the increased use of contactless. Contactless payments accounted for 36% of total purchases, compared to 19% in July 2016. Online spending grew by £170 million to £15.7 billion, accounting for 27 % of total card spending, up from 23 % in July 2016.

UK Finance, 13 September 2017

FCA updates webpages for PSD2 payment and electronic money institution applications

The FCA has updated two of its webpages; one on applying to be a payment institution, alongside information on authorising and registering payment institutions, and one on applying to be an electronic money institution, with a webpage on authorising and registering as such an institution. The changes from PSD2, implemented in the UK by the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/752) will take effect from 13 January 2018.Applications under PSD2 relating to payment institutions and EMIs can be submitted from 13 October 2017.

FCA, 8 September 2017

Worldwide

European Commission summary of contributions to its consultation on FinTech

The European Commission published a summary of the contributions to its consultation on its policy approach to FinTech, which was published in March 2017. The Commission received 226 responses to the consultation (40 from the UK), the majority of which came from the industry. Many respondents underlined that FinTech, and technological innovation in general, were drivers of financial sector development and that there were huge opportunities in terms of access to finance, operational efficiency, cost-saving and competition. On the risk side, the predominant themes raised by respondents related to cybersecurity, the use and control of data and money laundering.

European Commission, 12 September 2017

Paytm Payments Bank introduces digital debit card in association with National Payments Corporation of India

Indian electronic payment brand Paytm is increasing its inventory as digital payments are set to power the Indian economy in future. Paytm Payments Bank (PPB), which was rolled out few months back, has now introduced RuPay-powered digital debit card, in association with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Customers who opened bank accounts with PPB will be issued the RuPay-powered digital debit card. Online platforms like India's homegrown cab Ola, Flipkart and Amazon which did not allow users to pay for transactions using Paytm wallets will allow transactions through these digital debit cards.

The Drum, 12 September 2017

The names of the first payment service providers ready for SCT Inst are revealed

The EPC published the list of the first payment service providers (PSPs) that have announced their readiness for the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme on 21 November. 134 PSPs from four countries (Austria, Estonia, Latvia and Spain) have already adhered to this new scheme, which will make possible to move up to 15,000 euros from one account to the other in maximum ten seconds. For example, major Spanish banks like BBVA, Caixabank, Sabadell and Santander are registered to send and receive SCT Inst transactions. A banking group from Austria, namely Erste Bank, has also adhered to the scheme, but only to receive transactions, at least in the early days of the scheme.

European Payments Council, 11 September 2017