In December 2015, the PSR consulted on its proposed approach[1] for allocating, calculating and collecting the PSR’s Annual Funding Requirement (AFR) for 2016/17. This document sets out its policy decisions on the allocation, calculation, and collection of PSR fees for 2016/17, and further proposals for consultation.
This document sets out the policy decisions on the allocation, calculation, and collection of PSR fees for 2016/17, and further proposals for consultation. The PSR is also consulting on a proposed approach for an anticipated 2015/16 underspend.
Why is the PSR publishing this document?
This document forms part of the PSR's annual cycle of fees consultation for 2016/17. It confirms certain aspects of its approach, and asks for stakeholders’ views on elements it is still consulting on.
The PSR is seeking feedback by 5pm Friday 13 May 2016.
Consultation paper 16/11[2] [PDF]
What are the fees for 2016/17?
The PSR’s Annual Funding Requirement (AFR) for the year 2016/17 will be £15.2 million. It is proposing to split this across the PSR’s FSBRA and IFR functions as follows:
- £13.7 million for FSBRA functions and concurrent competition powers
- £1.5 million for IFR functions
Who should read this document?
This consultation is relevant to participants in regulated payment systems under FSBRA, IFR regulated persons and any PSPs which operate in the UK.
What do I need to know?
For FSBRA the PSR has decided to follow the same approach as last year[3]. The PSR's FSBRA AFR will be allocated equally across Bacs, CHAPS, C&C/NICC, FPS, LINK, MasterCard and Visa.
For IFR it has proposed a three-tier approach to the allocation of the IFR AFR, as follows:
- equal AFR allocation across the larger IFR card payment systems with more than 10 million UK transactions
- those with more than 100,000 and less than 10 million UK transactions would pay a flat fee
- the systems with the smallest UK presence (less than 100,000 UK transactions) pay no PSR fee for 2016/17
The PSR's plan is to implement this approach subject to the outcome of the additional consultation points, as discussed below.
What proposals is the PSR consulting on?
The PSR are consulting on the following:
- The FSBRA and IFR fee levels, i.e. the amount to pay, for PSPs and operators resulting from the PSR's policy decisions
- Its proposal concerning operators of card payment systems that also act as an acquiring or card issuing PSP. It is proposing that such the operators would be liable to pay the entire PSR fee allocation for that card system.
- Postponing the August and September payment deadlines by one month for both the PSR's FSBRA and IFR fees. This is to address concerns raised by some respondents about the time available to invoice and collect these fees over the summer.
- The PSR's proposed approach and process for handling its anticipated 2015/16 budget underspend. The PSR is proposing an ‘automatic’ refund and credit of the anticipated 2015/16 budget underspend against 2016/17 FSBRA fees which are due from individual PSPs to FSBRA operators.
What happens next?
Once the consultation has closed, the PSR will consider the responses received and publish a final decision on the allocation, calculation and collection of 2016/17 fees in the summer 2016.
Next steps
The PSR welcomes your feedback on its proposals for 2016/17 PSR regulatory fees by 5pm on Friday 13 May 2016. You can respond to the consultation by sending your comments to: [email protected].
Further information
If you are interested in learning more about PSR fees, you can read: