The UK payments association has published a voluntary code of conduct - available on accesstopaymentsystems.co.uk - covering ‘indirect access’ to UK payment systems for payment service providers (PSPs).

Developed by Payments UK in association with four UK banks (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and RBS, all of which are the industry’s primary indirect access providers), as well as with the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), the code's aim is to improve the experience of indirect PSPs by clearly setting out the responsibilities of the indirect access providers that have subscribed to the code. The code sets out standards of best practice for key elements of the commercial arrangements between indirect access providers and indirect PSPs.

The code of conduct was developed in response to the findings of a consultation paper (CP14) launched by the PSR in November 2014. The consultation highlighted a variety of concerns around the supply of indirect access, including the following:

• security of supply of indirect access, such as the risk that indirect access providers discontinue the supply of indirect access;
• the sharing of commercially sensitive information between indirect access providers and indirect PSPs who are also downstream competitors;
• some aspects of the on-boarding and contractual arrangements that govern the supply of indirect access; and
• communication between indirect access providers and indirect PSPs.

The published code of conducted was described by Maurice Cleaves, chief executive of Payments UK, as "an important development to support the growing number of payment service providers which access payment systems indirectly." In a press statement he added: “In the coming months we will be consulting with payment service providers to get their feedback and working with the industry and the PSR to develop the code further.”

Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and RBS intend to subscribe to the code by 30 September 2015, while other indirect access providers can also apply to subscribe to the code. The code is being launched on an interim basis and Payments UK will be conducting a formal consultation on the code across the wider payments industry in late 2015.