The payments sector is vast. In 2018, over 39 billion payments were made in the UK, with a total value of more than £83 trillion. The sector covers money remittance and payment processing firms – and the FCA has recently introduced permissions for account information service providers and payment information service providers to carry out business. Previously the preserve of banks, the government continues to open up the sector, and non-bank players can now have access to the Faster Payments system.
As the payments sector has evolved since first regulated in 2009, the size of firms has become larger. The most successful firms have developed high-level IT platforms that drive their businesses.
We offer services from statutory audit and financial reporting to regulatory advice and assurance. Our tax experts understand the importance of structuring, planning and compliance. We will help and guide you if you are looking for external finance or other transactional support.
Audit – expertise and experience
Safeguarding audits and regulatory advisory
Sharing our knowledge
Audit – expertise and experience
Our clients benefit from our accumulated expertise as auditors for payment services and electronic money firms. We draw on our extensive knowledge to inform our approach and make the audit process more robust and efficient, and invest time to understand your business model and the audit risks.
Given the high degree of IT dependency of firms in the sector, our meticulous audit approach will involve our specialist IT assurance team to test your data and underlying systems.
Safeguarding audits and regulatory advisory
The FCA is continually enhancing its supervision of regulated firms. It is vital that you stay abreast of these developments and choose advisors that have strong regulatory knowledge.
Firms must also complete regulatory returns covering capital adequacy and the incidence of fraud, close links and controllers, as well as operational and IT security risk assessments. The European Banking Guidelines, on which the IT security risk reporting is based, requires that the framework is carried out by independent testers. Our specialist team has the knowledge, skills and expertise to carry this out.
Sharing our knowledge
Our delivery is centred on your priorities and, as experts in payment services and electronic money, we will provide clear insight into audit, accounting and regulation. We share our knowledge through industry guides, newsletters and webinars and as regular speakers at industry conferences.
