The U.K. government late Tuesday abolished its Payment Systems Regulator, a move aimed at reducing business complexity and supporting the Labour government’s economic growth agenda. Payment system firms had complained that they had to deal with three different regulators.
The PSR, which oversees payment systems including Faster Payments and Mastercard, will be consolidated into the Financial Conduct Authority, making it easier for firms to deal with one regulatory body. This, according to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, will “reduce complexity in Britain’s regulatory system and stop it acting as a block on innovation, investment and growth.”
On the heels of criticism from the payment industry, the head of the payment regulator, Chris Hemsley, quit in June 2024, soon after the U.K. elections that resulted in a Labour Party victory.