The United Kingdom continues to lead Europe in real-time payment adoption, processing an average of 14.8 real-time transactions per capita per month, compared to 9.2 in the Netherlands and 7.6 in France, according to new data published by the European Payments Council. The figures, covering the first half of 2025, highlight the structural advantages created by the UK's early investment in Faster Payments, which launched in 2008, as well as the compounding effects of open banking regulation that has driven a growing share of e-commerce and bill payment traffic onto account-to-account rails.

Open banking-initiated payments now represent approximately 12% of total Faster Payments volume by transaction count, up from 8% at the start of the year. Providers such as TrueLayer, Yapily, and Volt have built commercial propositions around payment initiation, offering merchants lower fees than card acquiring while providing instant settlement. Tesco, HMRC, and several major utility companies have adopted open banking payment options, with early adopters reporting cost savings of between 40% and 60% compared to card-based checkout. The FCA's variable recurring payments framework, which went live in mid-2025, is expected to accelerate adoption further by enabling subscription and instalment use cases.

Despite the strong trajectory, industry participants cautioned that the UK's lead was not guaranteed. The EU's Instant Payments Regulation, which mandates that all euro-denominated transfers be available in real time by October 2025, is expected to dramatically increase adoption across the eurozone. Meanwhile, the European Payments Initiative (EPI) is building a unified digital wallet and instant payment solution that could challenge UK providers in cross-border contexts. Charlotte Sheridan, head of policy at the Payments Association, said the UK needed to ensure its regulatory and infrastructure roadmap kept pace with continental developments to maintain its competitive edge.