UK Economy: Pay.UK Extends Partnership with Vocalink

Pay.UK has extended its contracts with Vocalink, a Mastercard company, to secure the operation of the UK's core interbank payment systems through the early 2030s.

The multi-year extensions cover three critical contracts for central infrastructure services supporting the Faster Payments System (FPS), Bacs Payment System and Image Clearing System (ICS).

The agreement ensures continuity for payment systems that underpin the UK economy, with Vocalink securely processing more than £37bn (US$49.47bn) worth of payments daily.

Processing scale

Nearly 12 billion transactions worth over £10tn (US$13.37tn) were processed through FPS, Bacs and ICS in 2024 alone.

The contracts have been strengthened to meet new regulatory requirements and reflect continuous improvements being delivered across the services to enhance resilience and support innovation.

David Pitt, CEO of Pay.UK, said: "These extensions with Vocalink secure the UK's core payment services while strengthening resilience and service obligations."

David adds: "Our payment systems are highly reliable, they provide the stability our economy, banks and businesses depend on as the backbone of everyday financial activity in the UK."

Strategic positioning

The deal reinforces Mastercard's position as a global payments infrastructure provider at a time when the company is expanding its reach in emerging technologies.

Mastercard recently partnered with Ripple, WebBank and Gemini to explore faster settlements of fiat currencies using blockchain systems.

The collaboration examines using stablecoins for traditional card payment settlement, with Sherri Haymond, Global Head of Digital Commercialisation at Mastercard, stating the partnerships bring "regulated, open-loop stablecoin payments into the financial mainstream".

Stablecoins processed more than US$45tn in transaction volume over the past 12 months, exceeding the individual processing volumes of both Visa and Mastercard.

Infrastructure evolution

The contracts provide stability whilst allowing time and flexibility for the design, development and implementation of future retail payments infrastructure.

This work is being driven by the Bank of England in collaboration with the wider payments industry through the Retail Payments Infrastructure Board (RPIB), working with UK authorities to deliver the National Payments Vision.

Keith Douglas, CEO of Vocalink, says: "Our strategic partnership with Pay.UK is built on a shared commitment to providing resilience and innovation for payment systems in the UK.

"These contract extensions will ensure continuity for critical national services, providing reliable, secure and timely account-to-account payments to businesses and millions of people every day."

UK payments landscape

The extensions come as UK payments infrastructure continues evolving, with the fintech sector generating £32.4bn (US$43.9bn) in revenue during 2024.

The UK's Faster Payments Service processed 5.9 billion transactions in 2024, according to industry data.

The government has identified fintech as a key pillar of its growth strategy, with 2025 described as a pivotal year for policy development.

Recent initiatives include the £300m (US$406m) Lloyds Banking Group fintech venture arm and publication of the National Payments Vision, whilst regulatory frameworks continue evolving to support open banking and artificial intelligence integration across the sector.