UK Financial Conduct Authority: Proposed New Rules To Better Protect Customers Of Payments Firms

Use of payments firms has grown in recent years, but the FCA says it continues to see poor safeguarding practices from firms.

Funds held by payments and e-money firms are not directly protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Instead, firms must safeguard funds which can mean customers lose money or experience delays to funds being returned if the firm fails.

The FCA wrote to payments and e-money CEOs in March 2023 about their safeguarding and wind-down arrangements and has since opened supervisory cases relating to approximately 15% of firms that safeguard, to address its concerns.

Matthew Long, Director of Payments and Digital Assets, said:

'We’re consulting on proposals to make safeguarding rules stronger and clearer for payment and e-money firms so customers get as much of their money back as quickly as possible if the firm goes out of business.'

Under the FCA’s proposals, the existing e-money safeguarding regime will be replaced with a client assets (CASS) style regime designed to work with payments firms’ business models. It will also publish strengthened interim safeguarding rules for firms by the middle of next year.

The FCA’s cost benefit analysis (CBA) of its proposals has also been subject to review by the new independent CBA Panel.

Firms can respond to the FCA’s consultation by 17 December 2024. 

Background

1. Read the consultation paper.
2. Read the FCA’s Dear CEO letter to payments firms - March 2023 (PDF).
3. The FCA’s Financial Lives Survey (PDF) shows a five-fold increase in the use of current accounts with e-money institutions between 2017 and 2022. 
4. The Cost Benefit Analysis Panel is a new independent panel of experts established by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (FSMA) to provide advice to the FCA in relation to cost-benefit analysis (CBA). 
5. Find out more about payments and e-money firms. 
6. The FCA’s Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS) outlines rules for holding or controlling client money or assets. CASS has been used to address similar risks of harm seen in other sectors.
7. Find out more information about the FCA.