David Bailey: The journey to best in class payments

Speech by Mr David Bailey, Executive Director for Financial Market Infrastructure of the Bank of England, at the Westminster Business Forum Keynote Seminar "The future for payments regulation in the UK - competition, innovation and end-user priorities", London, 28 June 2018.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Good morning. I would first like to thank the Westminster Business Forum for inviting me to speak at today's seminar on the future for payments regulation in the UK.

When I first spoke at the Forum, three years ago, I highlighted the potential for considerable change in the payments industry in the UK. There was a sense that payments, a sometimes overlooked but vital sector of financial market infrastructure, was no longer going to be so quiet, and an unprecedented amount of innovation and change was on the horizon.

Consumer expectations around payments were evolving in response to the proliferation of mobile devices, smart phone technology and the ever-expanding range of services available through 'apps'. Contactless payment, using a card or mobile device, was becoming a daily reality for many. The term 'FinTech' was entering the mainstream.

Regulatory change was also underway. The Payment Systems Regulator was gearing up for launch with a mandate to promote innovation, competition and the interests of service-users. And at the Bank of England, we had recently created a directorate dedicated to ensuring financial market infrastructure, including payment systems, meet the necessary standards of robustness and resilience.