The Plan, first published in May 2008, sets out a 10-year vision for the payments we use in the UK and how we achieve that. The consultation document published today Updating the National Payments Plan - A consultation for the 2011 review of the NPP will help support the first major review of the Plan.

The Payments Council's unique strategic remit is to ensure that the development of payments in the UK reflects the needs of everyone including individuals, businesses, organisations or payment service providers. Our emphasis is on innovation, efficiency, integrity and responsiveness to user requirements.

Gary Hocking, Acting Chief Executive of the Payments Council, said: "Payments are sometimes described as the plumbing behind the economy. They are an essential part of our lives and rightly regarded as a critical national infrastructure so it's important that they do what we need them to do. Our role is to ensure that this plumbing system works and that the payments running along it move efficiently, and that we can deliver innovation where it is needed. To do this, we need to plan ahead, and the National Payments Plan, first launched in 2008, is at the heart of our planning.

"We are in a different environment now than we were just three years ago. New technologies move ever closer to realisation, so our Plan has to be robust and up-to-date. Public consultation is a crucial part of updating the Plan and we are looking for input from as wide a variety of organisations and interests as possible."