UK – Post-Brexit Divergence and Resilience Focus

Overview London remains Europe's top financial centre (GFCI 39), but post-Brexit rules have raised UK–EEA cross-border fees by an estimated £150–200m annually. The 2026 Payments Reform Roadmap, stablecoin clarity, and operational resilience rules now dominate the regulatory agenda. Key Challenges • Higher cross-border interchange and slower euro flows. • Fraud and APP scam liability shifts. • The Digital Pound versus sterling-stablecoin debate. • Cash access against the wider digital acceleration. Breakdown by Significant Financial Centre London A global hub, but losing ground on peer-to-peer account-to-account transfers (projected to drop to 17th globally by 2027). PSR market reviews are targeting recent fee increases head-on. Case Example The 2025 banking outages highlighted significant resilience gaps. The 2026 rules now mandate "always-on" testing and direct consumer compensation when services fail. Implications for Global Payments Firms The UK offers regulatory flexibility relative to the EU, but requires separate licensing and stronger fraud mitigations. Sterling stablecoins could become a meaningful growth lever for firms positioned correctly.