PSR Publishes Proposed Direction and Guidelines: Regulatory Financial Reporting in Relation to the Market Review of Card Scheme and Processing Fees

Why It Matters

The refined RFR remedy sharpens the PSR’s ability to monitor fee structures without over‑burdening firms, supporting more effective competition oversight in the UK payments market. It also signals that future regulatory tweaks remain possible as the sector evolves.

Key Takeaways

• PSR releases draft direction for regulatory financial reporting on card fees.
• Balance‑sheet data no longer required annually under the refined RFR remedy.
• PSR invites stakeholder comments until 3 July 2026 on proposed guidelines.
• Future interventions may target pricing or non‑pricing options if market shifts.
• Draft guidelines detail submission requirements for card schemes and processors.

Pulse Analysis

The Payment Systems Regulator, the UK’s specialist competition authority for payment markets, concluded its 2025 market review of card‑scheme and processing fees with a set of remedial proposals. Those proposals aimed to increase transparency around the fees merchants pay to Visa, Mastercard and other schemes, and to give the regulator clearer insight into how those fees are set. After a year of consultation, the PSR has now moved to the implementation phase, publishing a draft direction that formalises the Regulatory Financial Reporting (RFR) remedy. This step reflects the regulator’s broader strategy to use data‑driven tools rather than prescriptive price caps, allowing it to spot anti‑competitive pricing patterns while limiting administrative load on firms.

The draft direction introduces a streamlined reporting framework. While core financial metrics—such as revenue breakdowns and cost allocations—remain mandatory, the PSR has dropped the requirement for annual balance‑sheet submissions, deeming them superfluous for its specific objectives. The accompanying guidelines lay out detailed templates for how card schemes and processors should compile and submit their data, ensuring consistency across the industry. By focusing on the most relevant financial information, the PSR hopes to build a robust evidence base that can inform future decisions without imposing undue compliance costs.

For payment‑industry players, the proposal presents both an operational adjustment and a strategic signal. Firms must adapt their reporting systems to meet the new templates by the July 2026 comment deadline, after which the PSR may finalize the rules. More importantly, the regulator’s language about “future intervention” underscores that the current framework is a stepping stone, not a final settlement. Should market dynamics shift—such as the emergence of new pricing models or consolidation among schemes—the PSR retains the flexibility to introduce additional data requirements or even pricing remedies. This proactive stance aims to preserve competitive pricing for merchants and, ultimately, lower transaction costs for consumers.