Bank Of England Plans Panel To Standardize Payments Messaging

As the U.K. continues its move to adopt the ISO 20022 payments messaging standard, the Bank of England is reportedly planning to create a panel aimed at streamlining the adoption of the standard for more efficient payments in the country.

In a press release issued last week, the Bank of England said that it, along with Pay.UK, is inviting interested parties to join its Standard Advisory Panel to help guide adoption of the payments messaging standard across the New Payments Architecture (NPA). This is the latest initiative by the U.K. to streamline payments, following the formation of the NPA to clear and settle real-time and bulk retail payments.

Earlier this year, the U.K. developed the New Payment System Operator (NPSO) to consolidate the Bacs Payment Schemes Limited, Faster Payments Scheme Limited and Cheque & Credit Clearing Company Limited all into the NPA.

The Bank of England said it is seeking key industry stakeholders to join the panel from a diverse range of players, including payment service providers, technology companies and end users of these payment tools, including businesses. In addition to focusing on the widespread adoption of the ISO 20022 standard, the group will also explore the standardization of other aspects of the U.K. payment ecosystem, including APIs for the financial services space.

“This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to transformative change for payments,” said Bank of England Executive Director for Banking, Payments and Financial Resilience Victoria Cleland in a statement. “The new messaging standards have the potential to deliver huge benefits for the payments industry, and the households and businesses they serve – including risk reduction, increases in productivity and data to support more informed decision making.”

“Once-in-a-generation investment on this scale and the move to new messaging standards has been made possible by the renewal programs currently underway at the bank for its Real-Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) and at Pay.UK for the New Payments Architecture (NPA), which will clear and settle all of the U.K.’s real-time and bulk retail payments,” added Pay.UK Chief Executive Paul Horlock in another statement. “The move to new messaging standards, in particular ISO 20022, is only possible with industry involvement and support – the panel will be a key part of this strategy, providing advice and support about the industry’s needs and capacity to deliver the required changes.”