PSR sets out 2026/27 agenda

The Payments Systems Regulator sets out 2026/27 agenda with card fees, APP fraud and Open Banking in its sights.

PSR sets out 2026/27 agenda

The UK’s payments industry faces another year of heavy regulatory intervention after PSR set out a 2026/27 work programme centred on card fees, fraud reimbursement, infrastructure reform and the next stage of Open Banking.

The plan comes at a delicate moment for the sector. The PSR is not only pressing ahead with market interventions where it believes competition is weak, but is also doing so while preparing for its consolidation into the Financial Conduct Authority.

That combination gives the latest annual plan significance beyond routine supervisory housekeeping.

It offers one of the clearest indications yet of how UK payments policy is likely to evolve over the coming year.

A sharper focus on the economics of cards

One of the most consequential elements of the programme is the regulator’s determination to continue action on card fees.

That includes further steps on cross-border interchange fees and the implementation of remedies addressing domestic scheme and processing fees.

For merchants, this points to a potentially more favourable environment after years of concern over rising acceptance costs.

For card schemes, acquirers and issuers, however, it raises the prospect of intensified scrutiny of revenue streams that have long been embedded in the economics of card payments.

The direction of travel is unmistakable: the regulator wants stronger evidence that fees reflect effective competition rather than entrenched market power.

APP fraud remains a central pressure point

The PSR has also made clear that Authorised Push Payment fraud will remain at the top of its agenda.

It plans to publish and respond to the independent evaluation of the first year of mandatory reimbursement, while continuing to monitor how firms are meeting expected standards.

That matters because the reimbursement regime has already altered the balance of responsibility in retail payments fraud.

The burden is now falling more squarely on payment firms to prevent scams and absorb losses when controls fail.

What was once treated largely as an operational or customer-service issue is increasingly becoming a board-level question of risk management, investment and profitability.

Open Banking move into the next phase

Beyond cards and fraud, the regulator is positioning itself as a key player in the broader modernisation of UK payments.

It will work with the Bank of England, HM Treasury and the FCA through the Payments Vision Delivery Committee to oversee critical infrastructure delivery.

At the same time, it intends to support the next phase of Open Banking by helping to establish a long-term regulatory framework and future oversight model.

That is especially important for firms waiting for greater clarity on whether Open Banking will finally move from a policy success in principle to a commercially scaled payments proposition.

Continuity during regulatory change

David Geale, managing director of the PSR, said the regulator’s task during a period of institutional change is to provide “continuity, clarity and confidence”. That may prove the defining theme of the year ahead.

The UK payments market is being asked to adapt simultaneously to tougher fee oversight, stronger fraud obligations and a changing regulatory architecture.

For banks, fintechs and merchants alike, 2026/27 looks less like a transitional year than a decisive one.