UK Banks Launch £50m Raise for Domestic Payments Infrastructure

UK banks are launching an equity raise of about £50 million to fund the UK Payments Delivery Company (PDC), which aims to build a domestic alternative to Mastercard and Visa. The funding will cover the PDC's incorporation and mobilization until 2028, after which further capital will be sought to build the infrastructure itself.

The PDC has already received initial funding from nineteen financial services groups, including Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, HSBC, Citi, JPMorganChase, Nationwide, PayPal, and Wise. Mastercard and Visa have also been involved in the early work of the project.

The design brief for the PDC comes from the Retail Payments Infrastructure Board (RPIB), a senior industry advisory board chaired by the Bank of England. The RPIB's consultation on the next generation UK payments infrastructure was launched on June 25, 2026, and responses were due by September 11, 2026.

The PDC's blueprint is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2027, outlining the scope for account-to-account payments at the point of sale and enhanced cross-border payments. Pay.UK will continue to operate Faster Payments, Bacs, and the Image Clearing System during the transition.