Following on from last months meeting on Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) have produced a voluntary Request for Information to gain further insights from merchants.
Background
In December 2023 the PSR set out in a consultation its initial proposals on how VRPs could be expanded through a Phase 1 roll-out. The PSR also published its responses to stakeholders views on these proposals in August 2024.
In Phase 1, the PSR is working with the FCA to support the development of VRPs to enable payments between accounts in different names (non-sweeping VRPs) into several low-risk use cases.
Responses to the questionnaire will help them understand the level of preparedness and appetite for adoption of non-sweeping VRP services, and the costs and opportunities in relation to doing so. They are particularly interested in merchants experiences of accepting payments via current methods, and whether VRPs could be used within their businesses. This is part of a wider effort to support open banking adoption and, in the longer term, enhance competition and promote innovation within UK payments.
The survey requests some commercially sensitive information but it will be handled confidentially as outlined at the end of the questionnaire.
Completed questionnaires should be emailed to a2a@psr.org.uk by 1 August 2025.
The questionnaire can be found below.
