Competition in payment systems has been a subject of much debate for more than a decade (i.e. since the Cruickshank review of UK banking in early 2000 and subsequent Office of Fair Trading studies). These reviews and studies have led to significant policy reforms that have changed the landscape of the UK payments sector. The most recent of these is the creation of the Payment Systems Regulator, with duties to promote competition, innovation and the interests of service users. The PSR was launched on April 2015, with the initiation of two market reviews, one of which examines the ownership and competitiveness of infrastructure provision.[1]

[1] The final terms of reference are provided in Payment Systems Regulator (2015), ‘Market review into the ownership and competitiveness of infrastructure provision’, June.