UK payments blueprint outlines tokenized payments for ‘multi-money ecosystem’
UK regulators are calling for tokenization and “new forms of digital money” to be part of the core infrastructure of the countrys future retail payment ecosystem. In a Thursday update to the governments roadmap for modernizing retail payment systems, HM Treasury on behalf of the Payments Vision Delivery Committee said that including tokenization and digital money would advance its efforts to create a “diverse multi-money ecosystem.” “Programmable payments, including those that rely on tokenization,” were named as potential “product-level arrangements” that may support payment innovation in the country, the agency update said. The update of Novembers National Payments Vision document calls for infrastructure that enables emerging forms of digital money to interact with traditional payment systems. The UKs Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) earlier this week published its landmark crypto regulatory framework and said that the licensing window for crypto companies will open from September until Feb. 28, 2027, before the regime goes live on Oct. 25, 2027. Under that framework, cryptocurrency firms, including trading platforms, custodians, stablecoin issuers, staking companies and other intermediaries, must obtain FCA authorization to operate in the UK under the new framework. Illustrative diagram of roles and responsibilities outlined in Payments Vision Delivery Committee update. Source: HM TreasuryUK plans payments overhaul to