The UK’s Faster Payments Scheme is seeking ‘expressions of interest’ for the renewal and management of its infrastructure – the service that enables the UK’s 24/7 real-time payment system to function consistently and securely.

The competition aims to drive innovation and ensure that the Faster Payments Service continues to meet the needs of participants achieving the objectives set out by the Payment Systems Regulator.

The renewal is set to make it easier to join the Faster Payments Service and improve operational efficiency and further minimise the risk of cyber-attacks.

Bidders will be required to demonstrate the commitment to excellence in payments processing necessary in order to maintain over a billion secure, immediate payments a year.

Those qualifying following the expression of interest will be invited to participate in a ‘request for information’ phase, and subsequently invited to submit a full proposal. The winning bidder is expected to be selected in Q3 2018.

Craig Tillotson, chief executive of Faster Payments, said: “This competitive tender process will help ensure the integrity of the Faster Payments Service in the vital role it plays in the UK economy for years to come, supporting our objective to meet the long term needs and aspirations of our customers. It’s also an important milestone on the road towards the New Payments Architecture set to be delivered by the New Payment Systems Operator.”

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