Victoria Cleland: Transforming our payments infrastructure

Speech by Ms Victoria Cleland, Executive Director for Banking, Payments and Financial Resilience of the Bank of England, at the Payments International, London, 27 November 2018.

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

Transforming our payments infrastructure

Payments are an essential part of our lives, and of the UK economy. Last year UK payment systems processed more than 26 billion transactions worth over £91 trillion, covering everything from small scale card payments and cash withdrawals to major corporate transactions.

The UK payments landscape has undergone considerable change in recent years. Increased take-up of new types of payment technology in retail and wholesale markets has been facilitated by factors including increased ease of use, the growth in e-commerce, and increased confidence in their reliability and security. Looking to the future, we expect this transformation to continue, driven by incumbents but also the growth of new Fintech firms who will continue to find innovative ways of meeting demand for faster, simpler, cheaper and more flexible payments. This wave of innovation could deliver positive outcomes ranging from better choice for consumers, to improved access to finance for businesses, to lower transaction costs, enhanced resilience and greater capital efficiency.