Response to the discussion paper exploring extended RTGS hours

Foreword

In February 2024, we published a discussion paper on exploring longer operating hours for RTGS and CHAPS.^{footnote [1]} This outlined the Bank’s initial analysis on the use cases, benefits, costs, and impacts of extending settlement hours, and sought industry feedback to help shape the future operating model of RTGS and CHAPS.

Understanding the needs and capabilities of current and future RTGS users is a crucial input to our work to design and enhance our RTGS services. We want to run a service that provides the necessary and desired features for its users, promotes competition, growth and innovation and provides value for money. I am very grateful to the industry for the active engagement with our work so far – we received 36 formal responses together with additional views through industry sessions.

It is clear that extending RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours would have significant and wide-ranging impacts – bringing both advantages and challenges – across the payments ecosystem. This includes the Bank of England (as RTGS/CHAPS operator, payment system participant and policy maker), existing and future users of the RTGS and CHAPS services, and other stakeholders – including ultimate customers.

Encouragingly, responses verified our initial analysis set out in February 2024, and industry acknowledged the benefits, cost drivers, and other implications of an extension that we outlined. Overall, we heard support for extending settlement hours, with general agreement that current hours are unlikely to remain sufficient in an increasingly 24x7 and global world.

Responses have given us valuable insights into high-level industry priorities and capabilities, but our engagement will not stop here. We will continue to work with interested stakeholders to understand views further and deepen our analysis to inform a decision on future RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours. Before making a final decision, we need to understand in more detail the impact of an extension on individual firms, customers, and public institutions, as well as the overall UK and global economy, market functioning and wider payments landscape. We aim to balance providing an open platform for innovation, preserving the role of central bank money, and proposing feasible change for the Bank and industry.

While we have not yet made a final decision, given the importance of industry preparation and collaboration, we want to share our vision now and continue to update as it evolves over time. Our central expectation is that we will extend RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours, with the ambition of achieving near 24x7 operations around the turn of the decade. This will support our vision for continued innovation in the payments landscape alongside driving enhancements for cross-border payments. We expect to achieve near 24x7 with a phased implementation, starting with enabling earlier settlement at 1.30am (UK time), no earlier than 2027.

The final proposal and implementation timeline is subject to further analysis, in collaboration with industry, which we will outline in a consultation paper in 2025. Nevertheless, we hope that this early indication of the direction of travel is valuable for firms in preparing for an extension and building technical capabilities.

Victoria Cleland, Executive Director for Payments

Executive summary

Key takeaways from the industry feedback

We received 36 responses to our February discussion paper, from various stakeholders, including banks, payment service providers, public institutions, and trade associations representing a significant share of the UK payment landscape. This feedback, together with that obtained through general industry engagement, has been instrumental in forming our analysis for future RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours.

The feedback verified the overall benefits, costs, and other implications outlined in the discussion paper. The main use case cited was enhancing cross-border payments by increasing overlap with other RTGS systems (in particular APAC, EU, and the Americas). Respondents also noted potential benefits for liquidity management and innovation. Staffing and system upgrades were the key cost drivers highlighted.

The general consensus supported extended hours, recognising that current hours are unlikely to remain sufficient in an increasingly 24x7 world. No strong objections were raised against aiming for near 24x7 over the next 10 years, and there were calls for clarity on the long-term ambition as soon as possible to aid planning and prevent inefficient investment.

Respondents stressed the need for a clear business case and due consideration of system capabilities and delivery requirements before extending to near 24x7. Most prefer a phased implementation over several years, with at least two years’ lead time ahead of the first stage.

Feedback suggests a preference for extending CHAPS into the morning on weekdays as a first step, to increase overlap with EU and APAC countries and to avoid operational issues associated with later closing or weekend operations. There is some demand to enable a longer window for CHAPS extensions in contingency (up to 10pm rather than the current ability to extend to 8pm) and to explore additional settlement times for retail systems. For any change to RTGS and CHAPS hours, there is strong demand for flexibility for participants to choose when to use non-core hours, and a preference for a similar level of service support from the Bank during non-core hours as during current hours.

The Bank’s vision and next steps

Taking into account industry feedback and public policy considerations, we have formed an initial vision on the direction of travel for future RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours. While this may be subject to amendments following further business case analysis, we are sharing this vision now to aid firms in allocating analytical resource to input to our consultation, and in preparing systems and processes to enable an extension in due course.

The Bank will, over the coming months, work with industry to analyse and shape future RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours, the transition path and operating/service support model. Our analysis will consider the impact on all stakeholders, including the Bank and its policy objectives. A more detailed proposal on the end-state ambition and interim stages will be outlined in a consultation paper in 2025.

1: Background

1.1: Background to the future roadmap for RTGS

In Spring 2022, we consulted the industry on a set of ambitious and innovative features that could be implemented in the renewed RTGS system, once the new core settlement engine goes live. The features include new ways of connecting to RTGS, innovative and more flexible services (such as extended hours and synchronisation) and enhanced resilience. In the consultation, we set out a long-term vision for the renewed RTGS service: to act as an open platform for the UK financial services industry to facilitate safe and efficient settlement in central bank money.

Following industry feedback, we set out our response in February 2023 including the way forward to leverage our investment in a modern and flexible RTGS service to meet the evolving needs of the UK payments industry. We intend to enhance the renewed RTGS service further and to introduce changes that could enable participants to offer cheaper, faster and safer payments to their customers. Since then, we have prioritised business case and design work on three priority areas – resilient channels to connect to RTGS; extended settlement hours and introducing a synchronisation interface to RTGS.

Since Spring 2023, we have made good progress on these features working closely with the industry as part of co-creation. We set up thematic engagement groups for resilient channels, extending settlement hours, and synchronisation to enable stakeholders to input into high-level design and cost benefit analysis. The focus of this paper is on extending settlement hours, but work on resilient channels and synchronisation is also under way and the Bank will update industry on its current thinking in due course.

1.2: The Bank of England’s approach to innovation in money and payments

In July 2024, the Bank published a discussion paper on its approach to innovation in money and payments. It set out how innovations in payments pose both opportunities and risks to the Bank’s monetary and financial stability objectives. The paper sets out the Bank’s response to these innovations to date (including renewal of the Bank’s RTGS service), and how its response will evolve going forward to support its objectives.

Extending RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours supports our vision of an RTGS service that sets the foundations for innovation in payments, ensuring resilience and relevance in light of technology, financial system developments and public needs. This is one of the ways the Bank can adapt and enhance RTGS to preserve trust and confidence in central bank money. It also facilitates the safe adoption of innovations such as wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC), systemic stablecoins, synchronisation, and, depending on the technical design chosen, potentially the digital pound.

The July discussion paper seeks feedback (by 31 October 2024) on the next step in a wide-ranging conversation to shape and inform our future priorities for UK payments.

Alongside specific industry engagement on RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours, we will take into consideration the relevant feedback received through the innovation in money and payments consultation in moving forward with this work.

1.3: February 2024 discussion paper exploring longer RTGS hours

Utilising the co-creation thematic engagement group and additional engagement with key stakeholders, we developed our analysis on the high-level impacts of extending RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours. We published an exploratory discussion paper in February 2024 to publicly share our analysis and gather input from a wider set of stakeholders.

The February discussion paper referred to ‘operating hours’, but the analysis and questions primarily focused on settlement services. Throughout this document we use the term ‘settlement hours’ for clarity. See Box A for more detail on the difference between operating and settlement hours.

Our February discussion paper encouraged respondents to think strategically about what might be required over a roughly 10-year horizon. We sought views on the benefits and costs of extending, the ambition we should set, and various implementation considerations. We wanted to understand the demand for an extension, the actions needed to extend (up to near 24x7), and the timeline in which it could be feasible to do so.

2: Key messages from industry feedback

2.1: Overview of respondents

Chart 1: Respondents by type

The Bank received 36 responses from organisations and individuals. They comprise large and small financial institutions, payment service providers, public institutions, trade associations, and consultants. 19 of these responses were from CHAPS direct participants, which represent approximately 78% of the CHAPS 2023 transaction value.

In addition, we gathered feedback from the wider industry, for example by engaging with UK Finance, which represent a significant share of the UK payment ecosystem. We received limited feedback from the fintech community perhaps given their limited direct interaction with RTGS and CHAPS. The Bank aims to more proactively engage with these firms in our next stage of work.

Since Spring 2023, we have been further engaging with the industry through a series of co-creation meetings and bilateral discussions. This has allowed us to understand views in greater detail. We will continue the close co-operation with the industry moving forward.

2.2: Benefits and use cases

Chart 2: Cross-border payments and liquidity management are two key benefits

Respondents recognised the benefits of extended hours for improving cross-border payments, especially with Asia Pacific (APAC) and European Union (EU) countries. Additionally, there was strong interest for using extended hours to improve further cross-border payments involving North and South America despite the existing overlap.

Feedback on domestic payments emphasised the benefits of extended RTGS settlement hours related to retail payment settlements.

• Respondents identified potential improvements in liquidity management by giving retail payment scheme participants more flexibility to move funds.
• Respondents highlighted the potential to reduce credit risk by facilitating more frequent settlement windows of retail payment systems.
• For retail payments settling in CHAPS, a few respondents saw benefits for settling mortgage-related transactions on high-volume business days, or weekends, though they noted this would require changes in solicitors’ and conveyancers’ business practices.

More broadly, for all payments settling in RTGS, participants generally welcomed extended settlement hours as they could provide additional time to address errors, such as repairing payment messages, or for recovering from incidents, thus minimising delayed settlements caused by external factors.

We received feedback noting the potential of extended settlement hours to facilitate payment innovation. Respondents saw benefits from an extension in supporting emerging payment infrastructures such as systemic stablecoins, tokenised deposits, and retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), but not necessarily as a pre-requisite.

2.3: Costs and challenges

Chart 3: Staff/operational support and one-off system changes are seen as primary cost drivers

The feedback indicates that the primary driver of costs is expected to be staff/operational support. This is closely followed by costs associated with likely one-off systems changes. Other cost drivers, such as third-party vendors and policy/legal documentation updates, received moderate recognition. Tariff increases and liquidity costs received minimal attention.

Respondents generally anticipated rising costs and challenges in monitoring, reviewing, and processing payment transactions during the extended hours. Although, some respondents recognised the opportunity to explore more automation which could reduce cost and enhance operational efficiencies in the longer term.

2.4: Long-term ambition

Most respondents supported setting an ambition for near 24x7 settlement over the next 10 years but noted the challenges in developing and operating the necessary systems and processes to support such a model. They therefore stressed the need for a clear cost benefit evaluation. A few respondents highlighted that a well-defined end-goal is crucial for comprehensive planning and to prevent inefficient investment.

Responses strongly encouraged the Bank to continue close co-operation with the industry, citing the example and benefits from collaboration in developing the RTGS Renewal Programme.

2.5: Initial step

Chart 4: Preferences for a first-stage extension

Most respondents (approximately three quarters) supported a phased implementation to an extension as opposed to an all-in-one ‘big-bang’ approach, citing advantages from the ability to integrate early insights and lessons learnt thus reducing the risks of future enhancements. They emphasised the need to have a known end-state upfront to aid investment and implementation planning.

Most respondents favoured an earlier opening as the initial step in extending settlement hours, for example enabling settlement from 1am or 2am. This preference aligns with the aspiration to enhance cross-border payments, particularly with the APAC and EU countries. An earlier opening would facilitate more efficient transactions and better payment synchronisation with these regions, ultimately improving the overall efficiency and reliability of cross-border payments.

Some respondents expressed interest in closing later, mainly to provide greater overlap with the more liquid part of the business day in the US. However, respondents widely recognised the greater operational challenges of enabling later settlement, and even firms with business models that would benefit the most (largely international firms operating in multiple time zones) cautioned this would take time to achieve. Some respondents advocated for greater flexibility to close later in contingency – ie, to lengthen the current CHAPS contingency extension window beyond 8pm – to better manage high volumes or unexpected incidents.

A few respondents indicated support for weekend settlement hours. They see benefits to align with certain jurisdictions with differing business days (eg the Middle East work week starts on Sundays). Additionally, they cited that the ability to fund and de-fund RTGS accounts over the weekend introduces greater operational flexibility and optimises liquidity usage, especially for retail payments. For example, indirect participants in the Faster Payment System (FPS) could place additional funds with their FPS sponsor over the weekend to continue to fund outgoing FPS payments.

2.6: Implementation

Chart 5: Suggested lead time for implementation

Most respondents suggested they would need at least two years’ lead time before being able to send payments a few hours earlier than the current 6am–6pm settlement window. Some respondents indicated readiness within one year whereas a few requested three years’ lead time.

With a few exceptions, respondents generally anticipated they would need a longer lead time to prepare for near 24x7 settlement, with most preferring two to three years’ lead time.

2.7: Participation model

Chart 6: Preference for flexible participation in non-core hours

Respondents recognised that the balance between benefits and costs varies widely by institution type and business model – in particular highlighting that for smaller, domestically focused participants, there might be limited business need to operate outside of current hours. Therefore, respondents stressed that it would be important to allow participants flexibility around usage of new or ‘non-core’ hours.

In practice, this would mean that while RTGS and CHAPS could be open for settlement at new times/days, participants would choose when to open their own systems and start sending payments and when to close systems and stop sending payments (outside of core hours). There could be implications for market functioning and system liquidity if limited participants were to send payments within new ‘non-core’ hours. Respondents cautioned that further analysis on the liquidity impact of a new participation model is needed ahead of a final decision.

2.8: Service availability

Chart 7: List of services preferred to be made available in non-core hours

Survey feedback indicates a strong desire for the same level of service support during new hours as in current hours, including business and technical support, as well as intraday liquidity. The preference for the same service level is somewhat at odds with the demand for operational flexibility and concerns about higher operating costs. Generally, RTGS systems that already operate much longer hours (near 24x7) only provide minimal business support during overnight hours. The Bank will explore the drivers – as well as discussing options for compromising between competing demands – in future co-creation sessions with industry.

3: The Bank’s response to the feedback

We have listened to and incorporated the industry’s feedback when considering future RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours and planning further work. This section outlines our initial high-level vision on the direction of travel for RTGS and CHAPS. This is intended to enable industry to commence appropriate preparations to contribute to further analysis and, in time, implement a new RTGS and CHAPS operating day.

3.1: Benefits of extending settlement hours

As outlined in the February discussion paper and verified by respondents’ feedback, the Bank of England and industry see clear benefits to extending RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours – including to enhance cross-border payments, reduce settlement risk and liquidity costs, and to facilitate innovation and provide a better experience for customers in the evolving payments landscape. Given this, the Bank is minded to extend the current 6am–6pm window for settlement in RTGS and CHAPS.

An extension supports our vision of an RTGS service that sets the foundations for innovation in payments, ensuring resilience and relevance in the light of technology and financial system developments and public needs. It supports the Bank’s approach to innovation in money and payments outlined in July 2024. To preserve trust and confidence in central bank money we must adapt to changing landscapes, recognising the opportunities and risks innovations pose and considering potential RTGS enhancements that facilitate the safe adoption of innovations such as wholesale CBDC, stablecoins, synchronisation and the digital pound.

In an increasingly 24x7 world, it seems unlikely that current settlement hours will suffice, especially as new innovations take hold and financial market infrastructures and central banks globally are operating longer. The Bank is a strong supporter of the G20 priority to enhance cross-border payments – an initiative that will deliver real benefits for wholesale, retail and remittance payments in the UK and abroad. We recognise the need for co-ordinated action and practical improvements to achieve the ambitious G20 targets. Reviewing, and soon extending, RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours is one way we are demonstrating our commitment and delivering enhancements. Several features and capabilities enabled by RTGS Renewal or considered by the future Roadmap for RTGS – such as adopting ISO 20022, enhancing user functionality through Application Programme Interfaces (APIs), reviewing RTGS access policies and considering introducing a synchronisation interface – will also help to move towards this goal.

3.2: Cost and risk implications

While there are numerous benefits, the Bank also recognises that there are clear cost and risk implications to consider ahead of any final decision. It would require significant upfront investment by the Bank (as RTGS operator and as a participant) and industry to enable the required changes to RTGS/CHAPS and related systems, processes and staffing. And it would have ongoing cost implications to operate and staff the longer service.

Preparing, resourcing, and delivering these changes will take time. In line with industry feedback, the Bank sees a strong case for a phased transition to longer RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours over several years. This will allow the Bank and industry time to prepare systems and processes, as well as the opportunity to review costs and benefits following each stage to adjust the path forward if required. There is further work to do to formulate a full proposal on the stages and timeline for implementation, which will take consideration of other ongoing payments initiatives. We will outline further detail in the 2025 consultation paper, but our current expectation is that no extension would take place before 2027.

3.3: Potential first-stage extension

We see a strong case for a first-stage extension of four and a half hours in the morning, such that settlement starts at 1.30am. An extension to later in the evening is more operationally challenging and so will not be part of the first stage. However, we will work with industry to consider the case for, and build the capability to, have a longer CHAPS contingency extension window, from ‘up to 8pm’ to ‘up to 10pm’. We will continue to explore the case for more frequent retail settlement with Payment System Operators.

The February 2024 discussion paper outlined our initial vision for a first-stage extension to open RTGS and CHAPS earlier in the morning for settlement and to lengthen the window for contingency extensions to later in the evening. We have taken into account industry feedback summarised in Section 2 and further analysis by the Bank and industry to refine this vision.

Discussion paper responses indicate support for a weekday morning extension. This is mainly due to the potential to increase overlap with EU and APAC countries, the ability to settle non-critical payments earlier (reducing the CHAPS morning peak), and the smaller operational complications compared to closing later. Views differ on the extension length, but 1.30am appears to strike a good balance between maximising benefits and minimising costs and operational disruption. It aligns with the EU’s new hours for its RTGS system (T2), which represents the largest share of cross-border activity by volume.

Responses and industry engagement indicated relatively less demand for extending RTGS and CHAPS settlement into the evening. Yet there was some demand to lengthen the CHAPS contingency extension window, during which, in exceptional circumstances (eg to handle high volumes or an incident), the Bank can extend CHAPS closing to past 6pm (up to 8pm). Some industry contacts cited benefits from the greater flexibility to extend later (eg to up 10pm) as resolving incidents in time to settle payments same day can be tight.

However, we also recognise that many parts of the payment chain cannot operate past 8pm without large delivery projects. Therefore, we are not proposing to lengthen the CHAPS contingency extension window at this stage (nor are we proposing an implementation date). Nevertheless, we consider it is worthwhile starting work to explore the case for, and build capabilities to, lengthen the contingency extension window in due course.

We received some demand from industry to explore additional settlement of retail systems later in the day and/or at weekends. We need to understand if RTGS alone is sufficient for this use case or if limited CHAPS access is needed to fund and defund RTGS accounts used for retail net settlement. We will undertake further exploratory work with Payment System Operators to understand the potential benefits and challenges of introducing settlement on bank holidays and on weekends. Given that bank holiday settlement may involve less significant adjustments, we will explore this option in detail. However, due to the significant changes that would be needed to introduce weekend settlement, we do not envisage introducing it at this stage.

3.4: Long-term ambition

Defining the end-state ambition is more challenging due to the need to balance a wide range of views among respondents with the Bank’s objectives and public policy drivers such as cross-border payments growth and innovation. We also need further internal and external input to develop timelines to implement the end state. Nevertheless, we understand that a high-level steer is valuable for firms in preparing for an extension and building technical capabilities.

As such, we want to provide an early indication that our current ambition is to offer significantly enhanced availability for RTGS and CHAPS settlement, moving towards near 24x7 around the turn of the decade. We will continue to monitor market and technological developments and whether an interim step of 22x5, potentially with some weekend settlement, is needed. To inform a final decision we will provide a detailed assessment of benefits, costs and risks in our consultation paper next year, inclusive of target timelines.

As outlined in the February discussion paper, by ‘near 24x7’ we mean at least 23 hours, 7 days a week, with some scheduled downtime for maintenance. We consider this a more realistic goal than full 24x7 operations and it aligns with other countries operating longer hours.^{footnote [3]} Our central expectation is that such an extension would maintain end of day at 6pm and start the following day after a small downtime window (eg at 7pm). Each value date would therefore start in the evening of the previous day, as opposed to early in the morning on the calendar date. This is also in line with how other countries operate extended hours.

At present, there appears to be limited industry demand for near 24x7 settlement in RTGS and CHAPS due to the challenges and cost of developing system capabilities, and the lack of clear use cases to justify such costs at this time. Nevertheless, industry recognise the long-term benefits of longer settlement hours and showed support for setting an ambition of near 24x7 around the turn of the decade.

The Bank will consider industry feedback alongside public policy considerations in defining the future roadmap for RTGS. Building system capabilities without obstacles to near 24x7 operations – as the Bank has done with its renewed RTGS service – is the best way to prepare for the future and enable us to respond to developments in an inherently uncertain landscape.

While there is not a strong immediate demand for near 24x7 settlement, there are potential future use cases that might create a demand or a need over time. For example:

• As new payment innovations take hold, extended hours could help to preserve confidence in, the role of, and access to, central bank money. For example, near 24x7 could reduce the liquidity impact of new schemes backed by central bank money (eg retail CBDC or systemic stablecoins) and improve integration with external ledgers connected to RTGS (eg through the synchronisation interface that we are designing as part of the future roadmap for RTGS).
• As more countries move towards longer RTGS settlement hours, there will be a greater benefit from and drive for a UK extension. International co-ordination to extend will increase overlap and enhance cross-border payments, as well as enable countries to learn from each other and work together to understand and reduce barriers to extending. UK alignment will help to maintain competitiveness and sterling integration in the international financial system.

It will take a number of years for both the Bank and for industry to prepare for near 24x7 settlement. We will need to understand and mitigate challenges and risks from limited offline time (eg to update and maintain systems), analyse the policy implications for monetary policy, financial stability, and wider market functioning, and plan, resource and deliver changes to systems and processes. As such, when we set out our ambition for future RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours in our consultation next year, we will propose an appropriate lead time that enables the Bank and participants time to prepare.

The Bank will focus its efforts over the next few years on enabling the first-stage extension outlined in Section 3.3. That said, as and when CHAPS direct participants undertake projects to update systems and processes, they should consider how the changes made could accommodate near 24x7 operations in the future.

3.5: Implementation considerations

As outlined in the discussion paper, there are various factors to consider around implementing new RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours. For example, how to structure a new operating day (when to open and close), what flexibility to accord to participants to use new or ‘non-core’ hours, and the supporting services to offer when open. We seek to work with industry ahead of the 2025 consultation paper to analyse and define the appropriate RTGS/CHAPS operating and service model within new hours.

The industry has highlighted significant variations in the perceived benefits and costs of an extension among participants. Participants who primarily focus on domestic activities and have limited cross-border transactions have less demand for extended RTGS settlement hours. Consequently, respondents have expressed strong support for flexibility around when they open systems and start sending payments – citing benefits for varying business models and competition.

Further work is needed to understand how limited participation during ‘non-core’ hours could affect system liquidity, liquidity recycling, and the tariff model. We seek to undertake further analysis of these effects – working with industry and learning from countries that operate longer hours with a flexible model.

Embedding flexibility around when to close systems and stop operations would be more challenging, given the need to engage in end of day processes and pass on funds to customers with the same value date. Industry recognises this and accordingly expressed less demand for such flexibility. The challenges involved in changing the closing time were a key consideration in our proposal to focus a first-stage extension on the morning. It is also the reason that we anticipate any longer extension (eg 22x5 or near 24x7) would likely (and ordinarily) maintain end of settlement day at 6pm and open submission for the following value day after a small downtime window (eg at 8pm). There a range of possible timings we will assess in the next phase of work, including interaction with any contingency extensions for the same value day.

Discussion paper responses suggest that participants would seek the same level of service from the Bank (including business and technical support) in non-core hours as in current hours. This would have cost and tariff implications. We want to work with industry to understand the need for different services during non-core hours, and develop an appropriate model that provides value for money.

4: Next steps

This discussion paper response outlines the Bank’s vision and latest thinking on the direction of travel for RTGS and CHAPS. It is not a final decision or formal proposal.

The Bank will continue its analysis, working with industry over the coming months to formulate a proposal for future RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours – inclusive of a long-term vision and proposed implementation path. The implementation path will be phased and for each stage we aim to define the operating model, service availability, and implementation timeline. Careful consideration will be given to the impact on the Bank and industry, including but not limited to increased costs, capacity, resource readiness and staffing implications.

We have set-up a dedicated co-creation engagement group to assess business cases and the demand for extending settlement hours to different end-states. If you would like to participate in this co-creation group and be involved in our analysis with industry – please email RTGSRoadmap@bankofengland.co.uk.

We aim to issue a consultation paper in 2025 outlining the final proposal for extending settlement hours and supporting analysis. There will be a consultation period of at least three months to provide an opportunity for all interested stakeholders to provide feedback on the proposal. After assessing the feedback, the Bank will communicate a decision on future RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours in late 2025 or early 2026. The Bank will provide at least one year’s notice of a change from our current RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours – and so the Bank will not implement an extension any earlier than 2027.