Last updated: July 2023
Modern slavery a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It affects many millions of people around the world and takes various forms, including slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking.
The Payments Innovation Forum (“PIF”, “the Company”, “our”, “we”) is making a voluntary statement on modern slavery and human trafficking in relation to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
In the 2022 financial year, the Company’s annual turnover was below £36 million. Given the size of our company, we are not required to make a modern slavery statement. However, given that modern slavery is one of the biggest human rights crises of our times we are making this voluntary statement to show our commitment to ethical trading principles, and to set out the steps we are taking to monitor our supply chain for risks of modern slavery and human trafficking.
ABOUT US
PIF is a not-for-profit trade association representing members in the payments and fintech sectors, formed in 2007 to support the entry and growth of new payments solutions and fintech. Our mission is to support and champion innovation in payments, and push for best outcomes from legislative proposals that foster innovation and competition in payments, whilst protecting the interests of consumers. Our vision is that PIF’s work inspires legitimate confidence in the sector.
OUR SUPPLY CHAIN
Our supply chain for goods and services encompasses suppliers that are mainly operating in the UK, the majority of whom provide goods and services to support our activities. In accordance with Home Office guidelines, we have analysed the categories of our supply chain as follows:
- Third party venues - a large share of the Company’s costs is associated with services delivered at third party venues, such as for meetings and conferences. We always use well-known and reputable companies.
- IT, software and support services – these are provided by reputable companies and, where needed, through self-employed contractors. Contractors are not permitted to subcontract their services without our permission.
- Accountancy services - these are currently provided by a well-known firm that is regulated by the Financial Reporting Council.
- Financial services – these are currently provided by a well-known institution that is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority.
- Products or raw materials – as a trade association we do not directly process raw materials, but we do receive a small number of promotional products (such as conference materials) and stationery supplies which are generally sourced from suppliers we know well. As far as is practical, we will ascertain their ethical standards in relation to modern slavery and human trafficking.
We believe that for an organisation of our size, the number of suppliers we use is kept to a level where we have fostered good working relationships.
OUR COMMITMENT TO ETHICAL TRADING AND RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS
We believe that exploitation is wrong. As an organisation, we are absolutely committed to preventing modern slavery and human trafficking in our business activities, and to ensure that the suppliers we deal with are free from modern slavery and human trafficking.
Our commitment to responsible business policies include:
- Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy
- Antitrust/Competition Law Guidance
- Privacy Notices
As an employer, we are already fully committed to paying our employees in line with National Living Wage guidelines. The company does not employ agency staff.
DUE DILIGENCE
We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships.
We will undertake a due diligence process for all new suppliers. We will ask to see their own modern slavery statements and if these are not available, we will ask them to positively affirm that they are not involved in modern slavery or human trafficking.
We will not support or deal with any business knowingly involved in modern slavery and human trafficking. If an existing or potential supplier were to be suspected of having links to modern slavery and human trafficking, our arrangements with them will immediately cease.
We have policies and procedures in place to ensure compliance with UK employment law. The Company’s staff and suppliers are not seen to be in any category which is generally seen to be vulnerable to modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK.
RISK ASSESSMENT
We have assessed the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking to be low due to the geographical location and nature of our business. Our suppliers are almost exclusively UK based and where that is not the case, the countries have low inherent exposure to modern slavery and human trafficking. The sectors in which our suppliers provide their services are generally not associated with modern slavery and human trafficking.
AWARENESS TRAINING
While we believe the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking in our business and supply chain to be low, we are committed to ensuring a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our business and our supply chains. We will make our employees aware of ‘red flags’ which may be associated with instances of modern slavery and human trafficking and where necessary, provide awareness training.
FURTHER STEPS
On an annual basis, we will review the effectiveness of the steps we have taken during the year to monitor the risk of modern slavery or human trafficking in our business and our supply chain and to identify any additional steps we intend to take to combat modern slavery and human trafficking.
This statement is made voluntarily, in support of the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It was approved by the PIF Board of Directors on 16 March 2023.