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Developers requested for new payment sector opportunity

Guest blog from Grant McKenzie, Programme Director for the New Payments Architecture at the New Payment System Operator.

The developer community can play a leading role in offering consumers and businesses greater control and flexibility while benefitting from potential £1.3 billion market opportunity.

Ever had an unexpected bill arrive at just the wrong time? Or been forced to nervously wait to find out if you will receive a payment on time for work you have carried out? They can be common problems for many people and businesses across the country, which a new solution being developed in the payments industry is looking to address.

The Request to Pay service

Request to Pay will be a secure messaging service for payments - akin to email - overlaid on top of existing infrastructure.

It will allow government, businesses, charities and consumers to send a message requesting a payment instead of a typical bill. For each ‘request’, payers will be able to pay in full, pay in part, ask for more time, communicate with the biller, or decline the payment.

It gives the payer more flexibility and control and has the potential to benefit billers in a wide range of sectors by, for example, making reconciliation easier. Research conducted by Accenture in 2017 estimated the service could save the UK economy £1.3 billion per year.

The New Payment System Operator (NPSO) – the organisation responsible for setting the rules and standards in retail non-card payments – is inviting developers to explore, test and feedback on the standards and technical specifications for the service.

Where do developers come in?

Final technical specifications for the service are planned to be published in spring 2019.

Ahead of this, developers are invited to participate in an open access developer portal – now live at www.requesttopay.co.uk - containing a library of the draft technical standards and the requirements of the service. Alongside this is a sandbox to developers to test their solutions ahead of the service’s expected market launch in spring 2019.

Developers are invited to review the draft standards and provide feedback on the draft design of the APIs, ‘message repositories’ and ‘end-user applications’ which will make the service possible.

We believe a Request to Pay service can remove the financial cliff edges caused by unexpected and unpaid bills, whilst simultaneously creating a new market opportunity - and developers have a key role to play.

If you would like to register for the sandbox or discuss the Request to Pay opportunity further please visit www.requesttopay.co.uk or contact our team at info@requesttopay.co.uk. Initial feedback will be used to help inform the final technical standards which are currently provided as draft for illustrative purposes. There will also be the opportunity to further engage with the NPSO through regular working groups.

 

Channel website: http://www.techuk.org/

Original article link: http://www.techuk.org/insights/news/item/13973-developers-requested-for-new-payment-sector-opportunity

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