EPA report calls for wider payments access

Regulators need to rethink access to the UK’s payment infrastructure for non-banks and bring genuine change to the system, according to a new report released by the Emerging Payments Association (EPA). The paper has been compiled by the EPA in collaboration with its new chair, Rich Wagner, who is also CEO and co-founder of Advanced Payment Solutions. It highlights that current operators – such as BACS, Faster Payments and CHAPS – are reserved only for banks, meaning that the growing number of alternative payment service providers (PSPs) and e-money issuers are forced to run on the rails of traditional banks for indirect access, and “face all the legacy, cost and unnecessary red tape issues that come with it”.