(18 April 2018 – UK) Transferwise has become the first non-bank payment service provider (PSP) to join a UK payment system settling in central bank money.
Transferwise is now a direct participant in the UK’s Faster Payments system.
Last year the Bank of England announced that non-bank PSPs were eligible to apply for a settlement account in the Bank’s Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system. This change enabled non-bank PSPs to directly access the UK payment schemes that settle in central bank money, including Faster Payments, Bacs, CHAPS, LINK, Visa and the new digital cheque imaging system.
Wider access to the UK payment system is expected to bring financial stability benefits through increasing the proportion of settlement in central bank money, diversifying the number of settlement firms, and driving greater innovation in risk-reducing payments technologies.