What is the eligibility criteria for each of the different payment schemes?

The common criteria for each payment scheme are summarised below. 

Participant status: must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (<a href="/glossarycollection/financial-conduct-authority" style="color:#48277C;" target="_blank" title="Financial Conduct Authority">FCA</a>) to provide payment services (and in relevant cases also registered with HMRC). Individual payment schemes will also have specific criteria relating to their particular system. 

Settlement arrangements: must hold a settlement account at the Bank. Bacs, FPS and the Image Clearing System also require an additional pre-funding account to be held (one per scheme). 

Legal opinion: may be required to provide an independent legal opinion to confirm that the contract between the non-bank PSP and the payment scheme will be legally binding and enforceable. 

Legal documents: required to sign all legal agreements as required by the payment scheme. 

Costs: must agree to pay all relevant payment scheme costs, as requested. 

Compliance: must agree to comply with the payment scheme rules and technical requirements and be prepared to undertake assurance activity as required by the payment scheme or regulators, before and after go live. The behaviour of individual participants in these payment schemes can impact the stability of the whole financial system. It is vital that all rules and requirements are adhered to. 

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