On Wednesday, Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the payment system controller (PSR) Published A joint report that assesses the effects of digital wallets, finding significant benefits for consumers, while at the same time the competition problems highlights competition related to suppliers.
“The use of digital wallets has rapidly grown in recent years, with the proportion of card transactions using a digital wallet that increased significantly from 8% in 2019 to 29% in 2023,” said FCA, the UK’s highest financial regulator.
“Considering growthFCA and PSR are extensively involved with companies and representative groups to assess the effects of digital wallets, find significant benefits for consumers through greater convenience, improved security measures and, for some, greater financial inclusion. “
But together with these positives, the report also pointed out areas of concern, especially the need for improvements to enable competition between Digital wallet Suppliers and allow new players to enter the market.
FCA said that this can strengthen innovation and “expand the range of alternative payment methods offered, which gives consumers more choices.” It added that it had already shared its competition problems and results with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the country’s competitiveness dog, “to avoid regulatory application.”
CMA is currently investigating the two largest digital wallet suppliers, Apple (Nasdaq: Aapl) and Google (Nasdaq: Googl), with respect to their mobile ecosystems.
In the case of future plans, FCA and PSR said they would be involved in the Treasury – the Government’s Economic and Finance Ministry – by reviewing Payment services and electronic money regulationsin order to ensure that the regulations remain robust and adaptable to future developments in payments industry.
“We will continue to include digital improvements that benefit consumers,” FCA said. “This includes progressing work with open banks and contactless payments to increase competition and improve the UK’s growth and competitiveness.”
These efforts adapt to National PaymentA policy essay published in November 2024 that outlined the government’s ambitions for the UK’s payment sector, especially to “deliver world -leading payments and support the growth assignment.”
FCA and PSR echoed this feeling and said that their re -evaluation of the payment system was aimed at promoting “a modern, resilient and innovative payment landscape that supports consumers ‘and companies’ developing needs.”
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