Reeves to unveil plans for radical payments shake-up

The government is to unveil plans for a shake-up of Britain’s payments infrastructure which will involve the Bank of England being given a more powerful role overseeing it.

Sky News has learnt that Treasury officials have given the green light to a new “Payments Vision”, the details of which will be set out at this week’s annual Mansion House dinner.

Whitehall sources said that Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is expected to address the issue as part of her speech on Thursday evening amid concerns that the UK has fallen behind global rivals in areas of payments innovation and infrastructure.

The performance of the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has been a long-standing cause for complaint among industry and government stakeholders, while the fragmented nature of payments supervision has also stoked concerns about its efficiency.

The Financial Conduct Authority, for example, is responsible for cash access, while the PSR handles the framework for managing authorised push payment (APP) fraud.

An insider said the chancellor wanted to see “a more coherent approach” to payments, with the Bank of England expected to play a more central role in implementing that.

The announcement is likely to form part of a packed Mansion House agenda as Ms Reeves attempts to wrest back control of the narrative on the economy following a torrid response to her first Budget.

She is reportedly planning to announce plans to consolidate hundreds of billions of pounds of local authority pension assets, while financial regulators will see a modification of their remit to promote Britain’s competitiveness.

Sky News revealed on Monday that the Treasury is expected to kick off a search for a new boss of the FCA early next year, amid growing expectations that Nikhil Rathi will not serve a second five-year term.

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The Treasury declined to comment on Tuesday.