HM Treasury published the Payments Forward Plan on 26 February 2026, formally replacing the stalled New Payments Architecture programme with an industry-led approach called Interbank Infrastructure Renewal. The plan establishes a three-year regulatory roadmap for 2026 to 2028, delivered by the Payments Vision Delivery Committee comprising the Bank of England, FCA, PSR, and HM Treasury.
The central structural change is the separation of infrastructure design from system operation. A new industry-led Delivery Company will handle procurement and construction of next-generation payment infrastructure. Vim Maru, CEO of Barclays UK, has offered to serve as chair designate. Pay.UK retains its role as operator of existing interbank systems, with a mandate focused on resilience and optimisation of BACS and Faster Payments rather than designing their replacements. This reverses the original NPA model, under which Pay.UK held responsibility for both daily operations and architecture renewal.
The plan sets specific milestones across 2026. Short-term enhancements to existing BACS and Faster Payments infrastructure are expected by year-end. A retail payments infrastructure design programme launches in spring 2026, alongside a consultation on the Retail Payments Infrastructure Board. HM Treasury will consult on retained EU payments law in Q2 2026. The FCA will publish a consultation on long-term regulatory framework interface rules in Q3 2026. The PSR's Specific Direction 3 compliance deadline shifts to 1 July 2026.
The governance shift arrives as BACS processes record volumes. The system cleared 6.81 billion payments worth GBP 5.8 trillion in 2024. Bank of England net settlement data shows daily average values rising 6.4 percent to GBP 5,604 million. Pay.UK Board minutes from July 2025 confirm reduced BACS and Faster Payments pricing for 2026, reflecting Pay.UK's revised scope under the Forward Plan. Ben Taylor, COO at Modulr, joined the Pay.UK Board in March 2026.