The FCA’s Regulatory Priorities: Payments report for 2026 outlines the supervisory focus for payment and e-money firms and serves as a practical guide for boards and senior managers, highlighting key areas where regulatory scrutiny will intensify over the coming year.
Four core themes for the payments sector
The report emphasises four consistent themes shaping the FCA’s approach:
- Preparing for future regulation and innovation
The FCA supports innovation in open banking, variable recurring payments, stablecoins, and digital payments but insists growth must be backed by compliant governance and operational readiness. Firms are urged to invest early to align with regulatory changes and to engage actively with policy and supervisory initiatives.
- Delivering the Consumer Duty in practice
While some firms show improved consumer outcomes, the FCA notes ongoing issues with pricing transparency – especially in international payments – treatment of vulnerable customers, and governance oversight. Firms must continuously assess their products and services against the Consumer Duty and promptly address any deficiencies.
- Protecting financial system integrity
Preventing financial crime and ensuring operational resilience remain priorities. The FCA expects firms to maintain robust systems and controls, have skilled oversight, and be prepared for new incident and third-party reporting requirements. Weak resilience or controls pose risks not only to individual firms but also to market confidence and competition.
- Keeping customers’ money safe
Safeguarding remains central, especially with the introduction of the Safeguarding Supplementary Regime. Firms must demonstrate effective governance, resilient safeguarding arrangements, and credible wind-down plans. The FCA warns that any weaknesses here will lead to regulatory intervention.
Immediate actions for firms
The report advises payments firms to prioritise several key actions:
- Re-test governance, safeguarding, and resilience frameworks to ensure alignment with current FCA expectations
- Provide evidence of ongoing Consumer Duty assessments and ensure board-level oversight
- Prepare for upcoming changes to incident, third-party, and safeguarding rules ahead of increased enforcement activity
- Match innovation initiatives with compliant controls and establish clear accountability
Regulator-ready evidence and audit trails
Recordsure helps firms evidence compliance, supporting boards and senior managers with clear, regulator-ready MI and audit trails.
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