Pay.UK, the retail payments authority formerly known as the New Payment System Operator (NPSO), has today published a procurement prospectus with the aim of finding a strategic partner to help deliver retail payment infrastructure.

The publication marks the starting point of a competitive process to appoint an organisation to define, deliver and operate the New Payments Architecture (NPA), which will safely and securely process trillions of pounds worth of payments every year.

The NPA is a new conceptual model for payments in the UK, which will take over the processing of Bacs, Faster Payments and potentially cheque payments, by simplifying the rules, standards and processes that banks and others need to follow.

The prospectus sets out the qualities required of potential partners - which could be a single supplier or a prime-led consortium - as well as explaining the various stages of the procurement process and the related timescales.

The successful partner will be responsible for the design and build of the clearing and settlement layer of the NPA, which includes the provision of hardware, software, secure communications and security standards and operating environments.

The design of the infrastructure should be able to flex and accommodate future volume changes that arise as a result of the Internet of Things, PSD2 and interoperability demands. It is expected that the successful strategic partner will be selected in the second quarter of 2020.

Paul Horlock, chief executive of Pay.UK, said: "Publication of this prospectus is the launch pad for the delivery of this unique undertaking, representing a massive opportunity for potential partners to be involved in delivering the core of a next-generation retail payments ecosystem."

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