Bank of England handed new remit to speed up payments innovation
The Bank of England is being asked to move faster on payments, and the government has now put that request in writing. HM Treasury announced on Wednesday that the Bank will get a new “secondary objective” to support innovation in payment systems and emerging forms of digital money, with financial stability remaining its primary mission.
Under the change, the Bank will report annually to Parliament on how it is advancing the innovation objective. The Treasury says that reporting requirement will help track the pace of technological change.
City Minister Lucy Rigby said the new objective would “support the Bank to continue to drive innovation in payments and digital finance, ensuring that the UK remains a global leader in financial services”.
The move matters for a few reasons. It signals that the government of Prime Minister Andy Burnham intends to keep the previous administration’s pro-growth approach to financial services regulation. It also answers criticism, reported by Bloomberg, that the Bank has been too conservative on emerging technologies, at a time when London is competing with other financial centres for digital asset business.
Rigby pointed to developments such as tokenisation, which puts assets like bonds and funds on shared digital ledgers, as having the potential to transform financial markets. The Treasury has backed pilot work in the area in recent years.
Payments industry observers welcomed the direction of travel, though the practical detail, including how the Bank reports against the new objective and how it balances innovation against stability, will take shape over the coming months.
Reuters reported that the move forms part of wider reforms designed to boost the UK’s financial services sector, and that the annual reporting requirement gives Parliament a direct line of sight on progress.
For businesses, the effect will be felt slowly. New rules take time, and the Bank’s caution on anything touching the heart of the payments system is unlikely to disappear overnight. What has changed is that innovation is now on the Bank’s formal list of duties, which gives fintech firms and investors a clearer sense of the direction regulators are being encouraged to take.
The announcement was made by HM Treasury on 27 August. Read the full statement at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministers-to-boost-innovation-in-payments-with-new-objective-for-bank-of-england, with further reporting from Reuters at https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/britain-plans-new-bank-england-objective-support-payments-innovation-2026-08-26.