The UK's new payment system operator has appointed former Nationwide Building Society exec Paul Horlock as chief executive, overseeing the consolidation of Bacs, the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company and the Faster Payments Scheme.
The new operator is being established to reduce the complexity and costs of having three separate retail payment system operators (PSOs).
It will also become responsible for the next stage of the development of the New Payments Architecture (NPA), an industry-led initiative that aims to increase competition and resilience as well as enhance innovation across the payments and banking industry.
A 15-year banking veteran, Horlock most recently worked at Nationwide, overseeing payment services, driving the introduction of contactless cards, Paym and Apple and Android Pay. Previously, he was head of global payments processing at Barclays.
"I am particularly looking forward to working hand-in-hand with the gamut of payment system users, big and small, in order to deliver a payment system for the UK that enables competition to thrive whilst providing the foundation for innovation to flourish," says Horlock.
The operator says it will update on its progress in "due course" but has previously set a target of consolidation to be substantially completed by the end of the year.