The Faster Payments New Access Model - what can we expect?

The Faster Payments Scheme Limited has worked hard to understand the access challenges to Faster Payments, and they’ve discovered two distinct groups of users: those requiring Immediate/ Real Time payments for their customers, and those needing Same-Day (Value-Dated) payments for their customers. 

The Scheme believes the New Access Model will appeal to Infrastructure Providers/Vendors for payments and banking services, and also various types of PSPs. They’ll be aiming its services at four key audiences: 

• Challenger banks and non-bank PSPs considering participation. 

• Fintech companies who will provide payment aggregation or bureau services to PSPs. 

• Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) participants interested in providing settlement facilities to other PSPs. 

• Existing Faster Payments participants who may be reviewing or considering a refresh of their current payments architecture. 

How the new scheme will benefit Infrastructure Providers/Vendors 

The Scheme believes the New Access Model will benefit Infrastructure Providers/Vendors for payments and banking services in the following ways: 

• Complementing existing access models into other clearings (e.g. Bacs, CHAPS, SWIFT). 

• Supporting the aspirations of existing clients, who might otherwise look elsewhere. 

• Offering opportunities to engage with new clients in the UK market. 

• Being a ‘first step’ into all clearings, where no pre-existing access services are in place. 

• Being more cost effective for banks. 

• Being leveraged in other non-UK markets, as they begin to adopt real-time services. 

How the new scheme will benefit PSPs 

The Scheme believes the New Access Model will benefit PSPs in the following ways: 

• Meeting increasing demand from the client base of smaller PSPs for immediate, real-time payment services already available to customers of existing Scheme members. 

• Being a more cost effective alternative to the current direct participation model. 

• Helping existing members of the Scheme re-architect their services, and take advantage of new generation solutions. 

• Helping new market entrants meet their competitive need for access to a comprehensive range of payment services. 

• Broadening the range of vendor offerings that are available. 

The new Faster Payments New Access Model will help to keep the UK at the centre of the Digital and FinTech revolution on a real-time basis - exciting times ahead.