Modulr has launched commercial Variable Recurring Payments (cVRP) through a partnership with the UK Payments Initiative (UKPI).
The launch follows the rollout of the cVRP scheme by UK Payments Initiative, an organisation of which Modulr is a founding shareholder. Modulr has been involved in shaping the scheme since its inception and is now delivering it to customers through the Collections Hub, a platform that offers unified access to multiple payment methods.
Addressing Direct Debit failure rates
Direct Debit failures have increased for five consecutive years and were 9% higher year on year in 2026 compared with 2025, according to data cited by Modulr, representing additional costs for UK businesses. In addition, cVRP has been designed to address such challenges by allowing businesses to collect varying amounts from a customer's account each month following a single authorised sign-off, removing the need to request permission for each individual payment. Transactions made through cVRP settle via Faster Payments, which provides real-time confirmation.
At the same time, Modulr's existing customers are already using Variable Recurring Payments to automate and scale their collections processes. These include the lender Oakbrook, which uses the technology to give borrowers greater flexibility, visibility, and control when managing loan repayments, and earned wage access providers, which use it to allow employees to manage and repay wage advances.
Expanding Open Banking use cases
According to the official press release, the Collections Hub combines Direct Debit and Open Banking payments on a single platform and serves more than 6.000 Modulr customers. In addition, the Hub's services add resilience and reliability to their collection processes. cVRP extends the range of use cases that can benefit from Open Banking within the Hub.
Melek Pirgon, Chief Product Officer at Modulr, said businesses running high-volume collections should not have to choose between reliability and flexibility, noting that cVRP is intended to provide both. Pirgon added that, as a founding member of UKPI, Modulr is now delivering cVRP to customers through the Collections Hub as a scalable alternative to traditional payment methods.
Richard Koch, Managing Director at the UK Payments Initiative, said the launch of UKPI marks a step towards a more modern and flexible payments ecosystem that gives businesses and consumers greater choice. Koch added that Modulr's experience in powering and scaling payment flows supports efforts to make Open Banking payments more widely accessible, reliable, and suited to everyday use.
