UK FCA Makes Payments Innovation a 2026 Regulatory Priority

The UK Financial Conduct Authority regulates the payments market. The rise of open banking and stablecoins has made balancing innovation, competition and consumer protection a central concern. More than 16 million consumers and businesses used open banking in 2025, while electronic money institutions safeguarded about £26 billion in customer funds in 2024.

In a report published on March 25, 2026, the FCA named innovation as one of four priorities. It plans to expand open banking, modernize regulation and explore stablecoins and tokenized payment instruments, while continuing to assess compliance with the Consumer Duty. New customer-fund safeguarding rules take effect on May 7, and the report replaces more than 40 supervisory letters.