UK Payments Reform Measures a ‘Significant Moment’ for Digital Asset Adoption, says Fiserv | LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis
The UK government’s package of payment regulation reforms, announced during Fintech Week in London, has drawn praise from financial technology firms, with Fiserv describing the measures as a catalyst for widespread digital asset adoption at an institutional scale.
The package, being promoted by City Minister Lucy Rigby, includes plans to modernise payment services regulation, establish a framework for both traditional and tokenised payments, including stablecoins, and explore how regulation should adapt to payments conducted by artificial intelligence agents.
The government also appointed Chris Woolard CBE, a former interim chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, as Wholesale Digital Markets Champion to drive tokenisation across UK wholesale financial markets.
Rossana Thomas, Head of Commercial Payments Solutions at Fiserv, said the announcement represents “a significant moment for the industry,” with the consolidation of traditional payments and tokenised assets under a single regulatory framework providing the institutional trust needed to unlock convergence between real-time payments and blockchain technology at scale.
“By bringing traditional payments and tokenised assets such as stablecoins under one regulatory roof, the UK is ensuring that real-time payments and blockchain technology can finally converge at scale,” commented Thomas. “For UK businesses, this translates to a massive reduction in cross-border friction.”
She added: “With real-time rails and interoperable digital assets working in tandem, capital can move at the speed of modern commerce, removing the liquidity bottlenecks inherent in traditional correspondent banking. This shift also transforms stablecoins from a speculative asset into a practical utility for 24/7 treasury management.”
Looking further ahead, Thomas said the government’s focus on data consistency through the ISO 20022 messaging standard would position UK markets to exchange value more intelligently and securely as agentic AI-driven payments and tokenised wholesale markets became a reality.
