Bank of England proposes 2026/27 fees for recognised payment systems, with cap rise still in Parliament's hands
Operators of recognised payment systems must respond by 22 October 2026. What you are invoiced in Q4 depends on whether Parliament approves a new fee cap before then.
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Worth reviewing — operators of recognised payment systems and specified service providers (SSPs) only.
The Bank of England published a consultation paper on 22 September 2026 setting out proposed supervisory fees for recognised payment systems and SSPs for the 2026/27 fee year. If you are not in scope, stop here. If you are, responses are due by 22 October 2026, and invoices will land in Q4 of the fee year, meaning December 2026 to February 2027. There is no rebate or additional charge from last year: the Bank's supervisory costs came in as expected.
The headline numbers
The Bank proposes three fee categories, with ratios of 1.75:1.00:0.33 across Category 1, Category 2, and Category 3. Category 3 is new, added after last year's consultation for less systemic payment systems where supervisory intensity is lower. Under the current cap, the proposed general fees are: Category 1 at £760,000, Category 2 at £440,000, and Category 3 at £150,000.
The cap question
The existing statutory fee cap has sat at £760,000 per system or provider since 2018, and the cost of payments supervision now exceeds it, driven by inflation and a growing operational resilience workload that draws on specialist resource. HM Treasury (HMT) has consulted on raising the cap to £1.7m per system or provider, but that process has not concluded and any change requires Parliamentary approval. If the higher cap is approved, the proposed fees rise to £1.03m, £590,000, and £200,000 for Categories 1, 2, and 3 respectively. If legislation changes part-way through the year, the Bank will apply the increase on a pro-rata basis from the date the new regulations come into force. For illustration, a November 2026 commencement would produce an approximate Category 1 fee of £830,000 for the year.
Special Project Fees
The Bank also proposes modest increases to Special Project Fee (SPF) hourly rates, which apply to specific supervisory work beyond the general fee. The proposed 2026/27 rates are: Administrator at £70 (unchanged), Associate rising from £155 to £160, Technical specialist from £225 to £230, Manager from £300 to £310, and Senior management from £415 to £430. The SPF cap remains at £500,000 per firm per year under current rules, though HMT has separately consulted on raising this to £650,000 to account for inflation since 2018.
Looking ahead
For now, the only action is a response by 22 October 2026 if you want to influence the fee structure. Beyond that, the Bank intends to fold payment systems and SSPs back into its single annual financial market infrastructure (FMI) fees consultation from 2027/28, aiming to consult in June/July 2027.
