Speakers

Paul Horlock is CEO of Pay.UK, the company responsible for the UK’s retail payments systems.

Pay.UK has consolidated payment systems operators Bacs, Faster Payments and the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company into one organisation, and is responsible for the smooth running of infrastructure and services that enabled consumers and businesses to make more than eight billion payments worth around seven trillion GBP in 2018.

A key focus for Pay.UK is a landmark project to design and implement a new retail payment clearing capability for the UK that operates on a 24/7 basis, every day of the year. Known as the New Payments Architecture (NPA), this infrastructure will ensure payments remain safe, while also encouraging competitive innovation and unlocking new business opportunities in everything from smarter uses of payment data through to new transactional services.

Other innovation areas for Pay.UK include industry ‘overlay solutions’ leading with ‘Request to Pay’ and ‘Confirmation of Payee’. This involves the setting of associated rules and standards which will support the use of open banking, overcome friction issues through commonality of standards and ensuring a safe and secure payments ecosystem for all.

Before Pay.UK, Paul was Nationwide Building Society’s Director of Payments, successfully integrating digitally-led payment innovations.   

Paul also led the set-up of the Open Banking Implementation Entity, the body charged by the Competition & Markets Authority to realise the UK regulatory order for Open Banking and chaired the ‘Design Hub’ at the Payments Strategy Forum.