Preparing Payments & E-Money Firms for the New Safeguarding Regime
Firms must prepare for new FCA safeguarding rules by May 2026, including audits, reconciliation,...
FCA Highlights Weaknesses in Risk Assessments: Key Takeaways from the Latest Multi-Firm Review
The FCA’s latest multi-firm review highlights significant weaknesses in business-wide and customer...
Rebalancing The Consumer Duty: Our Takeaways from the FCA’s New Action Plan
Our Investments and Payment Services team looks at the FCA’s new action plan to refine the Consumer...
What the FCA’s New Safeguarding Rules Mean for Payments and E-Money Firms
Discover what the FCA's new safeguarding rules mean for payment and e-money firms and how to...
Navigating the Evolving Landscape of PEPs: Understanding and Implementing FCA's FG25/3
Discover the key updates in the FCA's FG25/3 guidance on PEPs, focusing on compliance changes, risk...
Targeted Support: The FCA’s Proposal for Better Advice on Pensions and Investment Decisions
Discover the FCA's proposal for targeted support to help consumers make better-informed pension and...
Wind-Down Planning and Risk Management Under Scrutiny for Payments and E-Money Firms
Firms must urgently enhance risk management and wind-down planning, as none met FCA expectations,...
Tighter Rules for PSPs and Framework Contracts — A Shift Towards Consumer Fairness?
New UK regulations for PSPs in 2026 ensure fairer and more transparent contract terminations,...
Redesigning Complaints Reporting: A Smarter Framework for Smarter Supervision
Discover how the FCA's new complaints reporting framework aims to enhance data quality and...
Clarity, Completeness and Care: The FCA’s Expectations of Transparency for International Payments
Are you a payment services firm who engages with retail customers, with those services involving...
Navigating the FCA's Guidance for Insolvency Practitioners: Implications for Payments and E-Money Firms
Although intended to guide IPs handling regulated firm insolvencies, FS25/3 offers insights and...
The New FCA Strategy & Consumer Duty: A Key Takeaway For Payment Services Firms
Reading through the recently launched 5-year strategy by the regulator, payments firms will come...
FCA Wake-Up Call: The CrowdStrike Outage and the Urgency of Operational Resilience in Financial Services
The recent CrowdStrike outage underscores how crucial operational resilience is in today’s...
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Navigating FCA Requirements: Unspoken Rules for Payment Services and E-Money Firms
A look at areas that the FCA may not explicitly emphasise but are critical for your firm’s...
Thistle Initiatives Newsletters - June 2024
Here's an overview of our monthly newsletter updates of our capital sectors - June 2024
Payment Services Monthly Newsletter - June 2024
Payment Services monthly newsletter - 2024
QR Codes: The New Age Digital Pickpocketing
So here's an interesting thing about something that is becoming more common place in all our lives...
Tap to Cash lets you pay by touching iPhones
Apple’s WWDC 2024 keynote was packed, including a number of key new updates for iOS 18. One of the...
UK payments watchdog rejects industry call to delay fraud refund plan
The interim head of the UK payments regulator, David Geale, has rejected industry calls to delay a...
Thistle Initiatives Newsletters - May 2024
Here's an overview of our monthly newsletter updates of our capital sectors - May 2024
Payment Services Monthly Newsletter - May 2024
Payment Services monthly newsletter - 2024
Checkout.com Partners with Mastercard, offering Virtual Cards to Online Travel Agents
Checkout.com, the global payment service provider, has joined forces with payments giant...
BofE warns payment firms to be ready for new Operational Resilience rules
Payment firms have been warned by the Bank of England that they need to step up their preparations...
Balancing Transparency with Reputation: The FCA's Push to Name and Shame Companies Under Investigation
On Friday 26th April, the FCA made a move that sparked both support and controversy (but mainly...
Thistle Initiatives Newsletters - April 2024
Here's an overview of our monthly newsletter updates of our capital sectors - April 2024
Payment Services Monthly Newsletter - April 2024
Payment Services monthly newsletter - 2024
CFIT to chair industry-led Open Finance Taskforce announced by UK Government
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Bim Afolami MP, has announced a new industry-led task...
Understanding the Financial Landscape: Insights from the FCA's Latest Release
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) unveiled its latest report yesterday (10/4/24), shedding...
Payment Services Monthly Newsletter - March 2024
Payment Services monthly newsletter - 2024
Shaping Tomorrow's Financial Landscape: Your Voice Matters in the CBI's Consumer Protection Code Consultation
Yesterday (7th March 2024), the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) took a significant stride forward by...
FCA's Recent Warning: AML Controls Under Scrutiny
Go grab a coffee - we need to chat about this very recent alarm bell being sounded by the FCA!...
SAP Announces New Commerce Cloud Payment Solution, Drawing on Vast Partner Ecosystem to Help Retailers Gain an Edge
SAP has introduced an open payments framework within its Commerce Cloud, facilitating seamless...
Payment Services Monthly Newsletter - 2024
Payment Services monthly newsletter - 2024
NatWest Become First UK Bank Accepted To UK Open Banking DPS
NatWest Bank has become the first UK bank to join the Crown Commercial Service’s Dynamic Purchasing...
HSBC Install First Cash Pod In Nailsea To Help With Cash Access
Ahead of the closure of the town’s last bank, HSBC UK has introduced its first standalone ‘Cash...
New Klarna Service Take On US Tech Giants After Sweden Success
Payments provider Klarna has developed and rolled out a service that allows customers to share data...
Payment Services Newsletter - January 2024
Payment Services monthly newsletter - January 2024
G20 Push For Faster Payments Risks Weakening Russia Sanctions
A report from the Future of Financial Intelligence Sharing (FFIS) warns that the G20's initiative...
Revolut Teams With Jabil To Scale Mobile Payment Solutions
Jabil has announced ongoing innovation between its payment solutions business unit and Revolut to...
TrueLayer first to join SEPA Payment Account Access Scheme
Open banking payments network TrueLayer has been authorised as the first participant in the SEPA...
Safeguarding Audits: Common Pitfalls and Best Practices
If you're a payment services provider or electronic money institution, safeguarding audits are...
Payment Services Newsletter - December 2023
Payment Services monthly newsletter - December 2023
Crypto.com gains momentum with UK financial authority’s approval
The FCA has authorised Crypto.com as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI), enabling it to expand...
Instant Payment Systems To Deliver 24/7 Cross-Border Processing
Cross-border payments destined for Europe can now reach beneficiaries in seconds, seamlessly...
Latest regulatory initiatives grid published
The Financial Services Regulatory Initiatives Forum has published the seventh edition of its...
Payments review calls for open banking reform and legislation
Published on 22 November 2023, the much anticipated Future of Payments Review takes a deep dive...
Future of Payments
In November this year, HM Treasury (HMT) published a report, ‘The Future of Payments Review 2023’,...
Payment Services Newsletter - November 2023
Payment Services monthly newsletter - November 2023
PSR publishes APP fraud performance data
In October 2023, the Payment Services Regulator (PSR) published 2022 performance data on authorised...
FCA and Modulr agree customer onboarding restrictions
The FCA has imposed customer onboarding restrictions on payments-as-a-service provider Modulr until...
Safeguarding Your Payments and E-Money Business from FCA Enforcement Powers
In the realm of UK Payments and e-money services, an area subject to increased scrutiny from the...
The Future of Payments: Exploring the Implications of PSD3 for UK Payment Services Firms
The financial landscape is constantly evolving, and as we approach the implementation of PSD3...
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The FCA and Bank of England publish proposals for regulating stablecoins
The FCA and the Bank of England requested feedback on their proposed approach, set out in their...
Consumer Duty: Not once and done
In November 2023, the FCA reported a speech given by Nisha Arora, its Director of Cross-Cutting...
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PSR publish APP fraud performance data
In October 2023, the Payment Services Regulator published 2022 performance data covering the...
Payment Services Newsletter - October 2023
Payment Services monthly newsletter - October 2023
Binance to discontinue Visa debit card services in Europe
Prominent global cryptocurrency exchange Binance is to discontinue its Visa debit card services in...
World Payments Report Finds Non-cash Transactions Are Rising
Non-cash transaction volumes have maintained their upward momentum, as consumers and businesses...
Payment Services Newsletter - September 2023
Payment Services monthly newsletter - September 2023
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FCA says poor-quality applications are creating log jams
The FCA has said that poor-quality applications and ‘radical innovation' are sustaining a log jam...
EC sees new opportunities in modernising payment services
The European Commission (EC) recently put forward fresh proposals for bringing payments and the...
PSR consults on APP fraud reimbursement overhaul
The UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has launched two consultations ahead of the implementation...
Payment Services Newsletter - August 2023
Payment Services monthly newsletter - August 2023
FCA requests data from banks on account closures
After announcing that it intends to carry out a data exercise looking into the basis on which...
The digital pound
The Bank of England (BoE) recently announced that it is looking into the case for a digital pound.
Government responds to payments regulation consultation
The recent publication of the government’s Payments Regulation and the Systemic Perimeter:...
Payment Services Newsletter - July 2023
Payment Services monthly newsletter - July 2023
PSD3: Modernising Payment Services & Opening Financial Services
The European Commission (EC) has put forward proposals for bringing payments and the wider...
Digital Identity Critical For Digital Wallet Confidence & Growth
A new report from API management and security vendor Curity has found that UK organisations and...
The fraud epidemic isn’t going anywhere. It’s time to take action
We have recently seen a slew of bad news about an alarming ongoing rise in payments fraud,...
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Insider Insights: Tips For Smooth Interaction With The FCA
Navigating the FCA's regulatory landscape can be challenging, but with the right approach, it can...
Payment Services Newsletter - June 2023
A new white paper from Tietoevry Banking argues that - rather than competing - card payments and...
Will the future be cards, mobile payments… or both?
A new white paper from Tietoevry Banking argues that - rather than competing - card payments and...
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A2A payments now worth more than $500bn
Worldpay’s Global Payments Report revealed that account-to-account (A2A) payments are now worth...
UK consumers embrace alternative payment methods
The Global Payments Report 2023 shows UK consumers embracing alternative payment offerings like...
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The Role Of Agents In The Changing Financial Landscape
An agent is a person or business which acts on behalf of regulated Payment Services Providers...
Empowering Operational Resilience: The Power Of Cyber Resilience
In today's digital landscape, organisations face a multitude of cyber threats that can disrupt...
Payment Services Newsletter - May 2023
Here's an overview of our monthly payment services updates from out Payment Services Compliance...
Report: The European payments landscape for 2023
Payments Cards & Mobile’s exclusive annual review of European payments data from 33 European...
European P2P sector could get €400m boost from AI this year
The continued uptake of artificial intelligence (AI) among European peer-to-peer lending platforms...
GSMA: State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money
Mobile money is now considered a mainstream financial service in many countries During the COVID-19...
The FCA To Introduce A New Principle & Code Of Conduct Rule
On 31st July 2023, the FCA will implement the Consumer Duty, which is intended to fundamentally...
Transforming The Future Of Transactions With The Digital Pound
The Bank of England and HM Treasury have presented a consultation paper to Parliament entitled:...
Payment Services Newsletter - April 2023
Payment Services Compliance Newsletter from April 2023. Here's an overview of our monthly payment...
UK Open Banking market at a crossroads
A new report on Open Banking by the Coalition for a Digital Economy reports that UK Open Banking is...
Global Payments Report 2023
In 2022, account-to-account (A2A) payments continued growing across the globe, with the expansion...
Optimising payments and the transition to ISO20022
Payment models are changing radically, creating both challenges and opportunities for financial...
Payment Services Newsletter - March 2023
Payment Services Compliance Newsletter - Here's an overview of our monthly payment services updates
Cards used for half of payments for first time last year
Card payments accounted for half (51 percent) of all payments in the UK in 2019. Remote banking...
The Future Development Of Open Banking In The UK - Final Report
More than 6.5 million consumers and SMEs in the UK already use open banking-enabled products and...
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Britcoin: UK government reveals ‘digital pound’ plans
A central bank digital currency (CBDC) is currently being explored by the Treasury and the Bank of...
The European payments landscape for 2023
Payments Cards & Mobile’s exclusive annual review of European payments data from 33 European...
Interview: The transformation of the UK payments landscape
Jana Mackintosh is Managing Director for Payments and Innovation at UK Finance. She is experienced...
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Dear CEO Letter - Payment Services Firms Need To Listen Up
On March 16, 2023, the FCA published a Dear CEO Letter sending a strong message to payment services...
Is Your Regulatory Control Framework Getting Stuck?
On 10 March, 2023, the FCA set out its expectations of FCA solo-regulated fast growing firms to...
Payment Services Newsletter
Payment Services Compliance Newsletter - Here's an overview of our monthly payment services updates:
Predicted payments trends for 2023
Our lives are becoming increasingly digitised, as connected devices and services proliferate.
Cash still the most frequently used means of payment at POS
The European Central Bank (ECB) has published its latest study on consumer payment attitudes across...
The future of UK consumer payments
A new forecast from UK Finance predicts that debit cards will be the preferred means of payment for...
Review and Call for Evidence
In January 2023, HM Treasury released its statutory review of the Payment Services Regulations 2017...
Dear CEO Letter To Payment Services Firms On The Consumer Duty
In February 2023, the FCA issued a Dear CEO letter to firms authorised under the Payment Services...
Ensuring Compliance In The Digital Age: ECE Audits
The electronic communications industry has grown rapidly in recent years, and with it, the...
Regulatory returns and the importance of a timely submission
We all know, that for a payment services firm it is critical to stay compliant with the rules of...
Payment Services Newsletter January 2023
Payment Services Compliance Newsletter January 2023 - Here's an overview of our monthly payment...
How acquirers can solve the payments puzzle
A new paper from Tribe Payments outlines huge opportunities for acquirers in the digital economy.
Payment platform problems – fix or switch?
Today’s leading financial institutions still operate outdated card and payment platforms dating...
Contactless mobile payments to surpass a billion users in 2024
A new study has found that the total number of unique contactless mobile payment users will top a...
Payment Services Newsletter December 2022
Payment Services Compliance Newsletter December 2022 - Here's an overview of our monthly payment...
Digital Wallet Users To Exceed 5.2 billion Globally By 2026
A new study has found that the total number of digital wallet users will exceed 5.2 billion...
How does the future look for embedded payments?
A long article in Payments Cards & Mobile looked at what embedded payments are - and what the...
World Payment Report 2022
The latest edition of the World Payment Report 2022 is now live. As we can all acknowledge, work,...
75% Of EU banks To Move Parts Of Payments Value Chain To SaaS
A new study from Tietoevry Banking reveals that European banks will accelerate outsourcing in...
Payment services authorisation update Dec 22
During a recent regulatory compliance forum, a keynote speech made by Nicholas Webb, the manager of...
First Supervisory Notice to Lilium Markets Ltd
In November 2022, the FCA issued a First Supervisory Notice explaining its decision, taken the...
Payment Services Newsletter November 2022
Payment Services Compliance Newsletter November 2022 - Here's an overview of our monthly payment...
Swift accepts community request to delay ISO 20022 migration
Swift says it has worked extensively with its global community to prepare for the start of the ISO...
The EBA Fraud Taxonomy is now publicly available
To match the speed of instant payments and their increasing adoption throughout Europe, fraud...
Payments industry continues strong post pandemic recovery statistics
A new report on the recovery of the payments industry suggests the global payments industry...
Changes to crypto regulation on the horizon
On 20 July 2022, the Financial Services and Markets Bill was introduced into Parliament. As the...
Overcoming the challenges of payment services compliance
The way we all pay for goods and services has changed radically over the past few decades. The...
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Payment Services Newsletter October 2022
Payment Services compliance - Here is a combination of all our Payment Services blogs.
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The Verizon Business 2022 Payment Security Report
For more than a decade, Verizon has documented compliance trends in the evolving payment security...
Upgrading payments infrastructure could boost UK GDP by $3.8bn by 2026
Upgrading the UK’s ageing payments infrastructure and increasing real-time payments adoption will...
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Faster Payments and mobile banking continue stellar growth
Faster Payments and mobile banking remained popular in the UK in 2021, with 86% of all UK adults...
Global payments card spending reaches $42 trillion
New research shows that worldwide expenditure on payment cards reached over $42 trillion in 2021, a...
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FCA authorisations update October 2022
In October 2022, the FCA issued an authorisations update. This update covers the regulator’s...
Consumer Duty – information for firms
In October 2022, in an update intended to help firms implement the Consumer Duty, the FCA explained...
Financial promotions quarterly data 2022 Q2
The FCA has issued data, covering 1 April to 30 June 2022, concerning its most recent action...
Funeral Plan Regulations
In March 2021, the FCA launched a consultation on its proposal for introducing regulation to the...
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Understanding the FCA’s Threshold Conditions - ComplyAdvantage blog series
Authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the most crucial step for early-stage...
New Payments Architecture
The New Payments Architecture (NPA) is intended to create a retail payment infrastructure that will...
FCA policy statement PS 22/6 on Claims Management Companies
In June 2022, the FCA issued its Policy Statement PS 22/6 in relation to claims management...
The Secrets of an AML Audit - ComplyAdvantage blog series
An anti-money laundering (AML) audit is often viewed as a source of stress for compliance teams,...
FCA to speed up removal of firms that do not use their regulatory permission
The FCA announced in May 2022, with the issue of its Policy Statement PS22/5, that it is to use new...
European Commission taking the temperature of whether PSD2 is still fit for purpose
As at May 2022, the European Commission is seeking market feedback on open finance rules1 and...
Navigating financial regulation and compliance with ease - Currencycloud blog series
Navigating the world of the UK’s financial services regulation and compliance can be a daunting...
Lessons to be learnt from the FCA’s recent Financial Crime control review
The FCA published its most recent review of financial crime compliance controls observed as part of...
HM Treasury confirms regulation of stablecoin use
New legislation to bring certain stablecoins into the UK payments framework, as well as projects to...
EU lawmakers back tougher crypto AML rules
The European Parliament voted in favour of the Transfer of Funds Regulation, which would outlaw...
FCA announces launch of Innovation Pathways and CryptoSprint
New FCA unified firm support service ‘Innovation Pathways’ will play key role in ensuring...
FCA announces an extension to 31 March deadline – Temporary Registration Regime (TRR) for crypto firms
The FCA announces an extension to the 31 March 2022 deadline for certain Temporary Registration...
FCA operational resilience (PS 21/3) - deadline 31 March 2022
The FCA published a shared final policy summary on requirements to strengthen operational...
FCA CP22/2: Strengthening financial promotion rules for high risk investments, including cryptoassets
In November 2021, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) announced that it was investigating...
CMA clarifies definition of VRPs for sweeping
In March 2022, the Competition and Markets Authority clarified what Sweeping can and cannot be used...
UK announces a tranche of sanctions in relation to Russia
UK announces a tranche of sanctions in relation to Russia. Full details available on the Foreign,...
Regulation For Cryptoasset Providers - What You Need To Know
Following the implementation of 5MLD, bringing with it the first steps in crypto regulation, there...
ASA bans ‘misleading’ and ‘irresponsible’ crypto ads
In Nov 2021, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) announced that it was investigating various...
2020 AML penalties hit $2.2 billion - crackdown on financial crimes
Financial crime compliance - Kroll’s annual Global Enforcement Review 2021, issued in December...
90% of UK crypto exchanges’ FCA authorisation applications are ‘withdrawn or refused’
In December 2021, it was reported in the financial press that the FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi...
90% of UK crypto exchanges FCA authorisation apps withdrawn or refused
Cryptoasset compliance: Report in the financial press - 90% of FCA authorisation applications from...
Emoney compliance - Final rules for SCA-RTS
Emoney compliance - The FCA set out final rules for its Regulatory Technical Standards on Strong...
FCA publishes Discussion Paper DP 21/4 - labelling ESG Investment products
FCA publishes Discussion Paper DP 21/4 - labelling ESG Investment products
Regulatory Technical Standards on Strong Customer Authentication and Secure Communication
Regulatory Technical Standards on Strong Customer Authentication and Secure Communication
FCA publishes its six-monthly complaints data
FCA publishes its six-monthly complaints data
Extension of Annual Financial Crime Reporting Obligation
The FCA’s Policy Statement PS 21/4, proposes to increase the number of firms that need to submit...
Digital payments company Wirex anti-money laundering controls
Wirex has voluntarily paused the onboarding of new UK clients at the request of the FCA in order to...
Trade-based money laundering risk indicators
FATF joined forces with Egmont Group to release a report highlighting key indicators around...
NatWest money laundering enforcement
Money laundering enforcement: Criminal proceedings against National Westminster Bank in respect of...
The implications of increasing the contactless payments limit to £100
The FCA has confirmed it is changing its rules to increase the single-transaction contactless...
Final notice: Premier FX case study - part 2
Premier FX case study - part 2: Premier FX was approved to undertake solely money remittance...
FCA publicly censured money remittance firm Premier FX Limited
The FCA publicly censured money remittance firm Premier FX Limited in February 2021 for failing to...
FCA consultation paper CP21-3: changes to the SCA-RTS
The FCA is, in Feb 2021, proposing in its CP21-3, various changes to the Strong Customer...
HM Treasury consultation on cryptoassets and stablecoins
HMT consultation - On 7 January 2021, HM Treasury published its consultation paper on the UK...
5MLD temporary crypto regime
FCA established, from 16 Dec 2020, a 5MLD temporary crypto regime to allow existing cryptoasset...