Minister McGrath thanks public for input into future of payments

The Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has today (24 April) published a summary report of the responses to the recent public consultation which sought the public's views on a new National Payments Strategy (NPS) for Ireland. A consultation paper (CP) on the NPS was prepared to guide the discussion and is available on the Department's consultation site https://consult.finance.gov.ie/en.

The consultation was open from 12 December 2023 until 14 February 2024.

Publishing the summary report Minister McGrath said:

"I was heartened by the level of interest and engagement the public had for the future of payments in Ireland. Based on the submissions received it is clear to me that access and choice of payment methods resonated significantly with the public and therefore will be an important input in the finalisation of the National Payments Strategy in 2024."

"I particularly want to thank individuals, organisation and firms for taking the time to contribute to such an important piece of work. The submissions brought out how payments are so important to the functioning of our economy and one that requires the highest levels of trust. My Department will now develop a series of actions to ensure this trust is enhanced, and with a particular focus on combatting fraud."

During the consultation period, in order to promote public awareness of the NPS, the team preparing the strategy in the Department of Finance engaged in significant stakeholder outreach. The team held in-person and online meetings and workshops with over 40 public bodies, firms, membership bodies and representatives of civil society. These interactions brought out a rich set of views and insights on how consumers and business interact with the payments system throughout Ireland. This outreach was of critical importance given that the issues being dealt with as part of the NPS have significant impact and consequences for consumers, small and medium enterprises (SME), the economy and the payment services sector in Ireland.

Some 85 formal responses to the CP were received compared to the 28 submissions received in the preparation of the National Payments Plan in 2013. Almost 30% of the total submissions were from individuals which reflects the level of public interest in the strategy.

Emerging from the submissions is the need for holistic treatment of specific subject areas, for example any promotion of instant payments should consider the corresponding impact on payment fraud, similarly any initiatives relating to cash access should also consider acceptance of cash. In this vein, the need for collaboration was a preponderant theme arising across submissions. Many of the areas addressed under the strategy are cross-sectoral in nature and a horizontal response is needed. A number stakeholders made it clear that payment fraud is an issue requiring action from many actors across the economy including big tech, postal services, financial services etc.

Empowering the consumer is a widely held position across stakeholders. A number of the topics dealt with under the strategy, such as open banking and crypto-assets, are well known to established actors within the payments ecosystem, but there is less awareness of these subjects amongst the general public. This is demonstrated by the call by many representative bodies in a number of a subject areas for an educational campaign with a view to informing the consumer of the benefits of various payment methods, and/or the risks associated with other forms of payment.

Following the publication of this summary report, the NPS team will continue to engage with stakeholders, including though a stakeholder workshop to be held in May 2024. The NPS will be drafted and finalised over the coming months with a view to publication in H2 2024.

The views and analysis in this Report are, unless otherwise attributed, the responsibility of the NPS team. It should be noted that this document is an interpretation of all submissions received by the NPS team and may not fully reflect the entirety of each submission, nor does it preclude the strategy from adopting actions recommended by stakeholders not referenced in this document.

All the submissions received in respect of the CP will be published on the Department of Finance website in parallel with the final strategy.

The final strategy will set out a roadmap for the future evolution of the entire payments system, taking account of developments in digital payments, cash usage and how future changes should be made to the legislative criteria relating to access to cash .

Queries can be sent to [email protected]

Notes to editor

Terms of Reference for a NPS were published in June 2023 and the development of the NPS is led by the Department of Finance. The last national policy in this area was set out in the National Payments Plan 2013 and, since this time, the payments landscape has changed significantly in Ireland.

The consultation was open from 12 December 2023 until 14 February 2024. Some 85 formal responses to the CP were received (almost 30% of the total submissions were from individuals) and over 40 firms and groups were met with to raise interest and awareness of the NPS, some of these online meetings had over 100 attendees.

This summary report is the synopsis of all the submissions received by the NPS team and is not representative of the views of the Department of Finance.

The National Payments Strategy

A key element of the work is to examine and analyse fraud, which is a critical issue and something that was not considered at the time of the NPP ten years ago. While much of this area is governed by EU legislation, it is important that the NPS examines and analyses payment fraud to see if further domestic measures can be identified to prevent fraud. On a related matter, work on financial literacy is already underway within the Department on this issue that was covered in a separate recommendation of the Retail Banking Review.

Within the payment roadmap, the NPS will also look at crypto-assets, instant payments, open banking, and what new data needs to be collected on the payments landscape.

Finally, the NPS is looking at two inter-related issues: cash access and cash acceptance.

On access to cash, it will consider the likely evolution of cash usage and how the criteria for reasonable access to cash that will be set out in the upcoming access to cash legislation should evolve as cash usage changes in the future. The legislation will calibrate the criteria to ensure that cash access will remain at about June 2023 levels, initially.

A related issue concerns the need to ensure that cash can be accepted as a means of payment where possible. It will, therefore, look at the acceptance of cash issue and consider, inter alia, if legislation should be introduced to require certain sectors or sub-sectors to accept or facilitate the acceptance of cash; and if it should be policy to require the public service to accept or facilitate the acceptance of cash.