Considering short-term and long-term strategic goals for restructuring the nation’s payments infrastructure over the next three, five and ten years, the Council’s initial report sets out six possible options or "end states" for long-term reform, including creating multiple, separate, collaborative payment schemes.
Payments Council chief executive Adrian Kamellard said that over the past two decades, demands of payments infrastructure have changed massively.
"The Payments Roadmap will put the needs of those who make and receive payments before those who process them – whilst of course maintaining a strong emphasis on system resilience and performance," Kamellard added.
The Roadmap comprises a three year plan to deal with more pressing interim needs, such as adoption of the international ISO 20022 format as a common standard across the entire payments landscape.
It will also consist delivering the capability to include additional reference information when a payment is made which might benefit businesses, charities or government; and a cost benefit analysis of account number portability.
Prior to publishing the first full version of the Roadmap in the first quarter of next year, the council will seek the advice for government, business, charity and consumer representative groups to better understand their future payments needs.
