Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the end of the transition period for the UK's departure from the EU, what steps have they taken to review the terms and conditions of the EU Payment Services Directive; and what assessment they have made of how they can support greater competition and transparency in the market for money transfer companies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

HM Treasury is leading a Payments Landscape Review. The review aims to ensure the UK maintains its status as a country at the cutting edge of payments technology. The review is looking at what can be done across government, regulators and industry to ensure that the UK’s regulatory framework and infrastructure for payments remains world leading.

HM Treasury issued the Payments Landscape Review Call for Evidence in July 2020 and it closed in October 2020. The Call for Evidence sought views on a range of opportunities and risks in UK payments, including for cross-border payments. The government is considering the responses and will set out next steps in due course.

Increasing competition and transparency is important to driving remittances innovation leading to consumers having better services and reduced costs. FCDO through the Harnessing Innovation for Financial Inclusion programme is focused on enhancing competition, transparency, and efficiency of the remittances market working across 18 African countries and is conducting research on key UK remittance corridors in Africa to understand what actions could lower the cost of remittances from the UK.