The Payments Council has launched a consultation on updating its UK National Payments Plan, covering what users need from payments including cash and cards, electronic payments and emerging technologies.

The Council, which sets strategy for UK payments, first published the Plan in May 2008, setting out a ten-year vision for the payments we use in the UK and how to achieve that.

The first major review of the Plan has been supported by the publication of the consultation document, Updating the National Payments Plan – A consultation for the 2011 review of the NPP.

The Council’s strategic remit is to ensure that the development of payments in the UK reflects the needs of everyone, including individuals, businesses, organisations or payment service providers.

“Payments are sometimes described as the plumbing behind the economy,” commented Gary Hocking, acting chief executive of the Payments Council. “They are an essential part of our lives and rightly regarded as a critical national infrastructure so it’s important that they do what we need them to do. Our role is to ensure that this plumbing system works and that the payments running along it move efficiently, and that we can deliver innovation where it is needed. To do this, we need to plan ahead, and the National Payments Plan, first launched in 2008, is at the heart of our planning.”

Hocking said today’s environment is very different to that of three years ago, with new technologies, for example, moving closer to realisation, meaning their Plan must be robust and up to date. “Public consultation is a crucial part of updating the Plan and we are looking for input from as wide a variety of organisations and interests as possible.”

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