Ecommpay responds to Bank of England report on the Retail Payments Infrastructure Board consultation

Merchants must be at the centre of the UK’s next-generation payments infrastructure

Ecommpay, the inclusive global payments platform, has welcomed the Bank of England’s response to the Retail Payments Infrastructure Board (RPIB) consultation, published on 4 November . However, it has warned that the new infrastructure will only succeed if merchants’ needs shape the design from the outset.

The response sets out a high-level design for the UK’s next-generation retail payments infrastructure. It proposes a single, modular core built on common messaging standards, and records strong industry support for phased migration over a “Big Bang” switchover. A co-creation phase starts this month, and the Blueprint is due to pass to an industry-led Delivery Company in Spring 2027.

Willem Wellinghoff, Chief Compliance Officer at Ecommpay, said:

“We welcome the Bank’s commitment to renewing the UK’s payments infrastructure, and in particular the clear support for phased migration rather than a Big Bang. For merchants, continuity matters. Businesses that depend on Bacs and Direct Debit for recurring revenue cannot afford for legacy systems to be switched off before replacements are proven. But phased must not mean open-ended. Firms need indicative milestones for the later phases, and early clarity on how the Delivery Company will be funded, because those costs will ultimately reach merchants.

“However, merchants made up just 4% of consultation respondents, yet they are the ones who will need to adopt, integrate and pay for whatever comes next. Merchants, and the payment firms that serve them, need a formal seat in the co-creation work that starts this month and in the Delivery Company’s governance. The questions that matter most to them – acceptance, consumer protection and commercial incentives – sit largely outside the core, and they need to be answered with the same urgency as the technical design.”

“Three things matter most for the businesses we serve:

“First, account-to-account payments at the point of sale. As the Bank’s response records, infrastructure alone won’t deliver a viable proposition. Merchants need certainty of fate at the moment of sale, with strong customer authentication, refunds, recalls and disputes designed in from day one rather than bolted on later, under a liability model they understand. A2A doesn’t need to copy cards, but consumers will expect protection that feels comparable. Without those, acceptance won't follow, however good the rails are.

“Second, access. The proposed range of connectivity options and the ability to share liquidity across products are the right ideas. Access should be set by a firm’s risk, capability and regulatory status, not by whether it is a bank. The EU has already opened its payment systems directly to payment and e-money institutions, and the UK should keep pace. Otherwise competition stays where it is today.

“Third, fraud. Shared fraud data, payee checks and directories work best when every participant connects to them on common standards, whether they are run centrally or offered competitively. Fragmented provision creates gaps that criminals exploit.

“Many UK merchants also sell into Europe, so alignment with CHAPS and international ISO 20022 standards isn't a technical footnote. It decides whether cross-border payments get simpler or stay expensive. Building one-leg-out capability into the core, and making UK Confirmation of Payee work with Europe’s new Verification of Payee, would make the UK a natural hub for international payments.”

“Finally, the design needs to look beyond today’s payments. As AI agents start to buy on customers’ behalf, merchants will need to know not only who is paying, but whether the agent had authority and the customer intended the purchase. Building that distinction between identity, authority and intent into the rails now will cost far less than retrofitting it later. And as an inclusive payments platform, we will judge success by whether the new rails cut the cost of accepting payments for the smallest businesses, not just the largest.”

“We support The Payments Association’s call for a core that is future-proof, open to competition, focused, genuinely interoperable and delivered safely and economically. We look forward to playing our part in the co-creation phase alongside the rest of the industry.”