Consultation on Preliminary Conclusions to the Review of Retail Payments Regulation May 2021

The Bank has released a Consultation Paper setting out the Payments System Board’s preliminary conclusions to the Review of Retail Payments Regulation. This follows extensive stakeholder consultation by the Bank on the matters raised in an Issues Paper published in November 2019. The key policy changes proposed by the Board are relatively modest and relate mostly to: dual-network debit cards and least-cost routing; interchange fees; and the transparency of scheme fees. Extensive consideration has also been given to the no-surcharge rules imposed by some ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) providers. The paper also includes for consultation some draft standards that would implement the preliminary conclusions. The Bank seeks written comments on these preliminary conclusions and draft standards by 9 July, with the expectation that the Board will reach its final conclusions in the second half of 2021.