Pay.UK and Vocalink extend contracts securing continuity for UK payments systems
Pay.UK and Vocalink, a Mastercard company, are pleased to announce the extensions of our payments infrastructure contracts.
The contract renewal sees Pay.UK as the Payment System Operator awarding multi-year extensions to three contracts to Vocalink for the provision of central infrastructure services, ensuring continuity into the early 2030s for the core UK interbank payment systems: Faster Payments System (FPS), Bacs Payment System, and Image Clearing System (ICS).
These extensions ensure the ongoing availability of the UK’s core payment systems, with the agreements strengthened to meet new regulatory requirements, reflecting continuous improvements being delivered across the services to enhance resilience and support innovation.
Pay.UK’s payment systems – FPS, Bacs and ICS - underpin the UK economy and ensure banks, businesses and consumers can transact without disruption. Vocalink plays a vital role in this, securely processing more than £37 billion worth of payments every day for Pay.UK. In 2024 alone, nearly 12 billion transactions worth over £10 trillion were processed through FPS, Bacs, and ICS.
The contracts have been carefully structured to provide stability and allow the necessary time and flexibility to enable the design, development, and implementation of the future retail payments infrastructure. This work is being driven by the Bank of England in collaboration with the wider payments industry through the Retail Payments Infrastructure Board (RPIB), working with the other UK authorities to deliver the National Payments Vision.
David Pitt, CEO of Pay.UK, said: "These extensions with Vocalink secure the UK’s core payment services while strengthening resilience and service obligations. Our payment systems are highly reliable, they provide the stability our economy, banks and businesses depend on as the backbone of everyday financial activity in the UK.
“We remain committed to safeguarding the integrity of UK payments and supporting innovation for the future."
Keith Douglas, CEO of Vocalink, said: “Our strategic partnership with Pay.UK is built on a shared commitment to providing resilience and innovation for payment systems in the UK.
“These contract extensions will ensure continuity for critical national services, providing reliable, secure and timely account-to-account payments to businesses and millions of people every day.”
About Pay.UK
As the recognised operator and standards body for the UK’s interbank retail payment systems, Pay.UK run the UK’s retail payments operations, which include the Bacs Payment System, the Faster Payment System and the Image Clearing System. Through our infrastructure and services, we enable billions of pounds of payments, safely and securely, every single day. It means that we have a critical role supporting the UK economy. We also deliver a variety of services relating to payments, such as the Current Account Switch Service, Confirmation of Payee and Request to Pay.
These contract agreements are the culmination of a major renegotiation process undertaken over the last 18 months, reflecting strategic expertise and a collaborative approach to achieving this outcome
About Vocalink
Vocalink has expertly run the UK’s critical national payments infrastructure since 1968. It processes 90% of all UK salaries, 70% of household bills and 98% of state benefits. Last year, Vocalink’s technology powered more than £10 trillion worth of transactions, with near 100% availability across the UK’s core payment services that it runs on behalf of Pay.UK.
Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re building a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential.
