Person paying by card for a brightly coloured bag of shopping

30 July 2025

Polar Moment’s Payments Perspective: July 2025

Key payments updates from July 2025 — the PSR’s annual report, a new national model for retail payments, and Mastercard’s latest fraud protection tool.

PSR Annual Report Highlights Strategic Delivery

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has published its 2024/25 annual report, reflecting a pivotal year as it reached the halfway point in its five-year strategy. The report emphasises progress in fraud prevention, competition, and payments innovation. PSR Chair, Aidene Walsh, reaffirmed the organisation’s alignment with the National Payments Vision and commitment to smart, proportionate regulation to support UK economic growth.

Find out more here: ‘PSR’s annual report shows a year of significant delivery’ (opens in a new tab).

Payments Vision Delivery Committee Outlines Next-Generation Infrastructure Model

The UK’s Payments Vision Delivery Committee has introduced a new model for the design and delivery of the next generation of retail payments infrastructure. It assigns strategic leadership to the committee, design to the Bank of England-chaired Retail Payments Infrastructure board, and delivery to a new industry-led company. Pay.UK will continue operating current systems, with efforts also underway to enhance the Faster Payments system. The committee will publish its full strategy this autumn, along with a Payments Forward plan by year-end.

Find out more here: ‘Payments Vision Delivery Committee Update’ (opens in a new tab).

Mastercard Launches A2A Protect to Tackle APP Fraud

Mastercard has introduced “A2A Protect,” a new tool designed to bolster trust in account-to-account (A2A) payments. Focused initially on mitigating authorised push payment fraud, the solution blends fraud prevention with a clear dispute resolution process. Future phases will extend protection to cover a broader range of use cases, including non-delivery of goods and services. The launch is aimed at giving banks the tools to provide consumers with confidence and security in open banking payments.

Find out more here: ‘Mastercard strengthens trust in A2A payments with Mastercard A2A Protect’ (opens in a new tab).