PayUK the retail payments authority formerly known as the New Payment System Operator NPSO announced on Thursday Oct 18 that it has published a Strategic Partner Procurement Prospectus which it said is the starting point of a process to appoint a strategic partner In a press release PayUK said it is seeking a partner to help define deliver and operate a payments infrastructure Known as the New Payments Architecture NPA the new infrastructure will safely and securely process trillions of pounds in payments every year PayUK has been tasked by the Payments Strategy Forum to deliver the future of payments in the UK via the New Payments Architecture said Paul Horlock chief executive of PayUK Publication of this prospectus is the launch pad for the delivery of this unique undertaking representing a massive opportunity for potential partners to be involved in delivering the core of a next-generation retail payments ecosystem According to PayUK the NPA is a new conceptual model for payments in the country and will take over the processing of Bacs the Faster Payments Service and potentially check payments Bringing them together should result in better payment services by simplifying the rules standards and processes that banks and others need to follow to use the systems The prospectus released on Thursday Oct 18 sets out the qualities required of potential partners which could be single suppliers or prime-led consortiums and also explains the various stages of the procurement process PayUK said the successful partner will be responsible for the design and building of the clearing and settlement layer of the NPA which includes the provision of hardware software operating environments and secure communications and security standards Our key purpose is to enable a vibrant UK economy This is the start of a hugely exciting journey to deliver this objective and we look forward to engaging widely to find the right partner to help us meet our aim Horlock noted in the release