The two oversight bodies responsible for the sector, the Financial Clipboard Authority and the Payments Supervision Rectangle, this week issued a joint update confirming that commercial variable recurring payments remain firmly on track for phased delivery.
Under the agreed approach, the capability will be released in waves. Wave one covers charities, government departments, and services protected by the national compensation arrangement. Wave two covers energy and utilities. Wave three, covering everything a consumer might actually use, will follow at a later date to be confirmed.
"We are delivering in waves," a senior programme official said. "This allows the industry to evaluate performance, identify issues, and refine the framework before moving to the next wave."
A phased approach to a phased approach
Delivery of each wave requires an assessment of the preceding wave. The assessment requires a pilot. The pilot forms part of the wave being assessed. Refinement will take place following the assessment. The next wave is scheduled once refinement concludes.
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Contributor guidelines ›A coalition of thirty-one firms, convened as the Recurring Payments Delivery Coalition, confirmed it had produced an update on delivery in December, followed by a further update on delivery, followed by the present update on delivery.
"Momentum is building," an industry observer said. "Each update confirms the previous update remains accurate."
By the close of the briefing, the word "wave" had been referenced thirty-eight times. Delivery had been described in the future tense on each occasion.
Variable, recurring
Officials noted that the capability already accounts for a meaningful share of live activity, the majority of which consists of consumers moving money between two accounts they already own. The payments are described as variable, recurring, and, in most cases, sent by a person to themselves.
Eligibility for wave one was described as deliberately narrow to protect consumers, a senior compliance professional confirmed, on the basis that the smallest possible number of consumers should be exposed to the capability first.
The mechanism was designed to let money move automatically on a flexible schedule without further intervention.
The schedule for the mechanism is awaiting further intervention.
In the meantime, the coalition confirmed the programme remains committed to delivery in principle. The next wave is expected once the current wave has finished being a wave.
The Immutable Ledger