UK banks have begun fundraising to launch UK Payments Delivery Co, aiming to rival Mastercard and Visa.
According to the announcement, the initiative centres on a newly formed entity, UK Payments Delivery Co, which was scheduled to launch with the stated aim of establishing a UK payments utility.
The fundraising round will initially seek to raise approximately GBP 50 million from industry participants, including banks. The funds are intended to finance the company through to 2028, covering its incorporation and mobilisation phases. The multi-year runway suggests the venture is being structured as a long-term infrastructure project rather than a short-term initiative, reflecting the scale typically associated with building payment rails capable of operating alongside established card networks.
The development follows continued scrutiny in the UK of the fees charged by international card schemes, and forms part of a broader industry conversation about reducing reliance on Mastercard and Visa for domestic transaction processing. Card network fees and interchange costs have been a recurring focus for UK regulators and merchant groups in recent years, providing context for why a bank-backed alternative infrastructure has attracted early sponsorship from a broad set of financial institutions.
Industry participation
A total of 19 companies have provided initial funding and sponsorship for UK Payments Delivery Co, according to the report. These include the UK's four largest high street lenders, commonly referred to as the ‘Big Four’: Barclays, HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group, and NatWest Group. The initial working group also includes US-headquartered companies Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and PayPal Holdings, alongside UK-based Nationwide and Wise Group.
The involvement of both domestic retail banks and US financial institutions in the working group indicates that the project is being positioned to address payments infrastructure needs across a range of market participants, from traditional lenders to global payment providers. Wise Group's inclusion is notable given its focus on cross-border payments, while Nationwide's participation reflects representation from the UK's mutual banking sector.
Implications for the ecosystem
If the fundraising proceeds as outlined, UK Payments Delivery Co would join a small number of bank-backed initiatives globally that seek to build alternative domestic payments infrastructure outside the two dominant international card networks. In addition, the 2028 funding horizon points to a multi-year build-out period before any competing infrastructure would be operational at scale. Further details on the entity's technical architecture, governance structure, or specific use cases have not yet been disclosed.
