Bank of England hires Accenture for 150 million pound overhaul of UK payment system

LONDON (Reuters) – The Bank of England said on Thursday it had hired IT consulting company Accenture to overhaul part of Britain’s payments infrastructure, in a contract worth up to 150 million pounds ($195 million).

“The Renewal Programme is a key priority not just for the Bank but also the wider UK payments industry,” said Victoria Cleland, the BoE’s executive director for banking, payments and innovation.

“It will support a resilient financial system that protects the UK’s financial and monetary stability in the years to come.”

The project to overhaul RTGS, which currently handles 685 billion pounds a day in payments between large financial institutions, is due to start being delivered in 2022.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)