Salt Edge is one of the payment platforms enabling commercial Variable Recurring Payments (cVRP) in the UK under the newly launched UK Payment Initiative (UKPI) scheme. The capability is live in production, integrated with UK banks, and available to merchants, billers, platforms, and charities running recurring collections.

What commercial VRP is

Commercial VRP is a new payment method built on open banking foundations. A consumer authorises a business once — defining the maximum per-payment amount, the frequency, and the expiry date — and the business can collect within those limits without the consumer re-authenticating each transaction.

The mandate remains visible inside the consumer’s banking app. They can amend it, pause it, or cancel it at any time. The business receives payments in near real time, directly from the consumer’s account, with no card details handled at any point in the flow.

Why the UKPI scheme matters

Open banking payments have grown rapidly in recent years, with more than 37 million payments processed per month in the UK. However, the vast majority of these have been one-off transactions. For most of the last four years, commercial VRP existed as a technical capability without a scheme infrastructure to support it at scale. Each bilateral arrangement between a payment provider and a bank had to be negotiated separately, with different commercial terms, different dispute processes, and different operational realities.

The industry-led UK Payment Initiative scheme solves that problem, building a foundational framework backed by the UK’s major retail financial institutions and fintech leaders. By unifying the ecosystem, the scheme provides:

• A common rulebook: a single set of operating rules applying across participating banks and payment platforms
• Defined liability and dispute processes: clear consumer safeguards and dispute frameworks for merchants, payers, and banks when something goes wrong
• Shared technical standards: consistent message formats, consent structures, and authentication flows across the ecosystem
• A path to broad bank coverage: replacing the bilateral-deal model with scheme-wide participation.

Furthermore, the new scheme directly aligns with the UK Government’s National Payments Vision, establishing a viable, low-cost, domestic alternative to traditional card networks.

What this means in practice: a merchant integrating with Salt Edge gains access to commercial VRP across participating UK banks under standardised commercial and operational terms, rather than having to negotiate ten separate agreements.

Use cases cVRP unlocks (Wave 1)

Commercial VRP changes the economics and user experience for any business that takes recurring payments from UK consumers. Under the regulatory framework approved for this initial rollout, the UKPI scheme is prioritising “lower-risk” Wave 1 use cases before expanding into wider e-commerce checkout environments.

The initial segments where this change is live and most consequential include:

• Utility billing: Energy, water, telecoms, and broadband providers lose revenue to card-on-file expirations and direct debit indemnity claims. cVRP removes both failure modes.
• Government and Public sector: Standardising automated, secure account-to-account collections for local and central government services.
• Regulated financial services: Wealth platforms, lenders, insurance providers, and other regulated firms that move customer funds off cards gain compliance benefits alongside commercial ones.
• Charities and not-for-profits: Recurring donations under cVRP work better for donors (more visibility and control) and for charities (more reliable income and fewer renewal failures).
• Lending and credit: Repayment collections are automatically processed within agreed limits, with the customer retaining the ability to cancel or amend the mandate, solving a longstanding friction point in consumer credit.

Note: Wider e-commerce subscription models and retail checkouts will follow in subsequent scheme waves.

Salt Edge’s role

Salt Edge provides the payment-initiation infrastructure that enables businesses to integrate with the UKPI scheme via a single API. The platform handles the technical complexity of connecting to participating banks, managing consent lifecycles, processing payments, and providing the operational tooling merchants need to run cVRP collections at scale.

Sweeping VRP (me-to-me payments under a single consent) has been available through Salt Edge across the CMA9 banks for some time. Commercial VRP now joins it on the same integration path.

The UKPI scheme is the missing piece that commercial VRP has been waiting for. It turns a technical capability into a commercial payment method. We’re proud to be one of the platforms enabling that transition for UK merchants, billers, and charities, and we’re ready to serve customers building on it from day one.

Ilia Dragan, Chief Product Officer at Salt Edge

Getting started

Salt Edge customers integrating the platform’s payment initiation API gain access to single payments, bulk payments, sweeping VRP, and commercial VRP via a single, consistent interface. Existing Salt Edge customers can extend their integration to add cVRP without rebuilding their payment stack.

Salt Edge has already processed its first commercial Variable Recurring Payment (cVRP) in the UK. The milestone transaction, a recurring donation from a UK consumer to a UK charity, was completed through Salt Edge’s payment initiation infrastructure under the consumer’s standing consent.

If you’re running recurring collections today on direct debit, card-on-file, or standing orders, talk to us about what cVRP under the UKPI scheme can do for your business.

About Salt Edge

Salt Edge is a financial API platform with PSD2 and open banking solutions for every business. The company has two main areas of activity: enabling third parties to access bank channels via a unified gateway and developing the technology banks need to comply with the directive’s requirements. ISO 27001-certified and AISP-licensed under PSD2, Salt Edge is integrated with 5,000+ financial institutions across 50+ countries. The company has been named a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Open Banking Intermediaries, 2023 Report.

For more information, please visit www.saltedge.com