Government Plans Payments Innovation Objective for Bank of England
Thursday 3rd September, 2026
The Government plans to give the Bank of England a new responsibility to support innovation in payment systems and emerging forms of digital money, whilst continuing to prioritise financial stability.
As digital technology continues to transform the way people and businesses make payments, the Bank’s new objective seeks to ensure the regulatory framework creates the right conditions for these innovations to develop safely and drive good growth in every postcode, according to a press release.
The Bank will report against this objective annually, as a means by which to track pace with technological change.
Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England Sarah Breeden said, “ We welcome today’s announcement, which will further boost our work to support innovation in financial services without compromising on financial stability.
The Bank is doing a huge amount, together with government and other authorities, to maintain trust and drive innovation in UK payments. This new secondary objective will further support that.”
The Bank already has a secondary objective to facilitate innovation when regulating central counterparties and central securities depositories. That approach is being extended to its regulation of payment systems, including those using digital settlement assets, such as stablecoins.
