Distributed ledger technology (DLT) is currently being investigated by the U.K Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in order to meet up with the changing face of payment in the country.
Overhauling the DWP payments systems
The Deputy Director of the DWP’s Digital Delivery Shared Platforms, Richard Laycock revealed that the improvements are planned across the DWP payments systems so as to make sure that its 20 million clients “receive their payments on time.”
He stated that:
“As we move our Payment Services forward they need to be efficient, modern, fast, scalable, flexible, innovative and available 24/7,”
Also, the DWP is examining several tech trends for the updated system, as well as the increasing adoption of distributed ledger technology (DLT).
“We are starting to see the first full production [DLT] implementations, such as Santander’s One Pay FX. The benefits include reducing time, cost and failure rate associated with making transactions whilst data is stored on a secure immutable ledger,”
In addition, the department is expected to improve its payments framework, and in order to do this, it will be introducing “the biggest set of changes to the way UK payment schemes process payments in years.” he added
Since the deployment is expected to begin in 2021, the DWP will launch a common payment message standard and combine the schemes which are already in existence. New “overlay” services will also be added, including “request to pay” and “confirmation of payee.”
Furthermore, the use of open APIs to allow third-party developers to build apps and services around a banking institution which is referred to as Open Banking now offers a way to improve aspects of the DWP’s payment services.
Laycock then said that:
“I’m keen for us to consider how we can harness the payment innovations coming out of these trends and how we can influence the New Payment Architecture to help shape the future of payments across government.”
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