The UK Government has announced plans to give the Bank of England a new secondary objective to support innovation in payment systems and emerging forms of digital money. The objective is intended to help ensure regulation keeps pace with technological change and creates the conditions for payments innovation to develop safely across the UK.
The announcement forms part of a wider programme to modernise the UK's payments landscape and strengthen its position as a global financial services hub. It reflects growing interest in technologies such as tokenisation and stablecoins, which have the potential to reshape the way payments and financial markets operate.
The Bank of England will report annually on how it is advancing the innovation objective. The government has emphasised that financial stability will remain the Bank's primary objective, with the new innovation mandate supporting the safe and responsible development of new payment technologies and business models.
