The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced stricter safeguarding rules for payment and e-money institutions, coming into effect from May 2026. The new requirements follow a significant rise in online money accounts—up fivefold between 2017 and 2022—and recent failures where insolvent firms held, on average, only 35% of their customers’ funds.
Key elements of the FCA’s reforms include:
- Customer funds must be kept entirely separate from company funds at all times.
- Larger payment and e-money firms, such as PayPal, Revolut and Wise, will be required to submit monthly reports and undergo annual audits.
- All affected institutions must perform daily checks to confirm customer money is fully safeguarded.
- The rules apply to payment institutions, e-money institutions (EMIs), and credit unions issuing e-money.
Matthew Long, director of payments and digital assets at the FCA, commented: “People rely on payment firms to help manage their financial lives. But too often, when those firms fail, their customers are left out of pocket.” He continued, “We’ll be watching closely to see if firms seize the opportunity and make effective improvements that their customers rightly deserve – this will help us to determine whether any further tightening of rules is necessary.”
The changes come after industry data indicated that, between 2018 and mid-2023, failed firms typically had insufficient funds to cover two-thirds of customer balances. While UK Finance, the industry association, welcomed the FCA’s initiative, it stressed the importance of proportionality: “We support a robust and effective safeguarding regime that protects customers without placing unrealistic demands on businesses, particularly smaller firms.”
For players using e-wallets or other modern payment solutions, these rules aim to enhance security and transparency during casino withdrawals and deposits. Players can read more about safe and regulated options in our guides to using e-wallets to bet online in the UK, Apple Pay withdrawals, Trustly, safe online casinos, and common payment issues.
| Rule | Who Is Affected | Effective Date |
|---|---|---|
| Daily fund safeguarding checks | Payment & e-money institutions | May 2026 |
| Monthly reporting & annual audit | Larger firms (e.g. PayPal, Wise, Revolut) | May 2026 |
| Mandatory separation of client funds | All firms holding customer money | May 2026 |
Further information is available from the original source at Reuters. For ongoing updates relevant to UK casino withdrawals and payment regulations, see our main news section at Casinowithdrawal.co.uk.
