Minutes
30 March 2021
Item 1: Welcome and introductions
1. The Chair welcomed members and provided an overview of the agenda for the meeting.
2. The Chair mentioned Shriyanka Hore of Oracle has stepped down from the SAP as she will be moving to another role. The Chair thanked Shriyanka for her valued contributions to the SAP.
3. Pay.UK will share the terms of reference for the Community of Developers. At the next meeting, Pay.UK will inform the Panel what it wants to achieve with this forum. It was noted the terms of reference is for information only, not for the Panel’s approval. Act: Circulate the Community of Developers terms of reference and discuss objective of the group at the next meeting.
Item 2: UK Finance Payments Standards Strategy Group (PSSG) – update
4. Pay.UK and the Bank updated the Panel on the UK Finance PSSG noting the draft interim report has recently been circulated for comment. Pay.UK noted we need to determine what is most valuable for end users and understand what good looks like, then we can ensure we are going after the right goals. Examples provided include fraud mitigation and Open Banking (OB) payments standards. The Panel noted we need to ensure this does not impact the NPA or RTGS Renewal Programme timelines where there will be a need to retrofit current standards developments to the OB standard.
5. The Panel agreed we will discuss the PSSG further at the next SAP meeting in May and allow the Panel time to review the interim report and its recommendations, and share feedback. It was agreed to invite UK Finance along to the next meeting.
Item 3: Purpose Code Approach – for discussion
6. Pay.UK provided an update and narrative view of the journey Pay.UK is undertaking and the strategic initiatives required to achieve its end goal – ie to ensure the benefits of ISO 20022 are realised and used consistently in practice. Pay.UK will continue to work together with the Panel and the industry to realise the benefits for end users. Pay.UK mentioned it is working alongside the Bank on some of these initiatives such as the implementation of purpose codes to ensure alignment where possible. The Panel agreed establishing these benefits and standards focused items will be a good way forward, as well as understand indicative timelines against these strategic initiatives and further understand the opportunities.
7. Pay.UK stepped through an example of a business-to-business (B2B) use case and how purpose codes and other ISO 20022 data enhancement building blocks can help achieve an end user outcome eg combat fraud, aid in account reconciliation. Pay.UK mentioned there will be many more use cases and would like to explore these with industry. The Panel noted it would be helpful to understand the problem statement up front (eg through the lens of a corporate or a retail payment) then talking through the use case and how it can help address the problem. Pay.UK would like feedback from the Panel on what they see as priority use cases that would provide the most value. Act: the Panel to provide feedback to Pay.UK on priority use cases to take forward and discuss.
8. The Bank provided a reminder of the plan and timelines for purpose codes detailed in the policy publication in December 2020, and noted the joint Purpose Codes consultation is due to close on the 31 March 2021. The feedback received so far include understanding how to garner the best use of the list for the UK; the international list is too long; the potential need for end user guidance to ensure consistency and usage across the industry. The Bank stepped through three options that address the feedback received:
- Recommended UK list: the Bank and Pay.UK will continue to work with industry to ensure this list is relevant and provides value to the UK;
- Market guidance: the Bank will continue to develop guidance for CHAPS eg property transactions;
- Customer journey guidance for end users.
The Panel welcomed the need for customer journey guidance. However, noted that it needed to be simple and end user friendly, otherwise end users will not use it. It was suggested this could include developing a decision flow diagram that may help illustrate the journey for the end user.
Item 4: SAP Forward Plan Agenda – for discussion
9. Due to time constraints, the Panel agreed the SAP Forward Plan Agenda be recirculated for feedback, requesting views on agenda topics the Panel would like to discuss and prioritise at upcoming SAP meetings. Act: Secretariat to circulate SAP Forward Plan agenda requesting feedback and views from the Panel.
Item 5: Any other business
10. Pay.UK updated the Panel on discussions with HMRC on developing a tax standard and leveraging ISO 20022 and additional data for tax payments.
11. The Bank provided an update on the CPMI cross border work and the ISO 20022 Hackathon results. It was noted international developments are important as they may have an impact on the strategic direction we take on standards in the UK.
12. The Bank mentioned the upcoming RTGS Renewal Industry Event in April. All Panel members should have received an invite to the event already. Additionally, the Bank mentioned the Vendor Engagement Forum in May, for which invites will be sent out in due course.
Close of meeting.
Attendees
[NB all by Zoom videoconference]
Members:
Karen Braithwaite, Chair (Barclays)
Robert White, Santander
Brendan Reilly, Silicon Valley Bank
James Barclay, JP Morgan
Domenico Scaffidi, Volante
Ralf Ohlhausen, PPRO
James Whittle, Pay.UK
James Southgate, Bank of England
Jo Oxley, Government Banking Service
Toby Young, Ebury
Observers:
Ian Ellis, Payment Systems Regulator
Other attendees:
Bank of England & Pay.UK Secretariat
Bank of England & Pay.UK Presenters
Apologies:
Oli Bogaerts, FCA
Andrew Cregan, British Rail Consortium