Excerpt from Finextra Article, Published on July 9, 2025
The Bank of England has imposed an £11.9 million fine on Vocalink Limited, a Mastercard subsidiary, for failing to meet compliance obligations related to its risk management framework. This marks the first time the Bank of England has fined a financial market infrastructure firm. Vocalink operates critical UK payment systems, including real-time payments, settlements, direct debits, and a network of over 47,000 ATMs, processing the majority of salaries, household bills, and state benefits in the UK.
The fine follows a 2020 review that identified significant weaknesses in Vocalink’s systems, controls, governance, and risk escalation processes. Despite a remediation program and a deadline set for February 2022, Vocalink failed to fully comply with the Bank of England’s direction. The central bank’s investigation found that Vocalink lacked an integrated risk management framework, which hindered its ability to monitor and escalate risks effectively across the organization.
Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England, stated, “Vocalink fell short of its obligation to have adequate risk management and governance arrangements when responding to the Bank’s Direction. Its failure to comply with that Direction in full has resulted in a significant fine.”
Vocalink cooperated fully with the investigation and admitted to the compliance failure early, which earned the company a 45% reduction on the original £20 million fine. The company has since invested heavily in addressing the issues and improving its internal controls. A Vocalink spokesperson emphasized that the historic compliance issues had no impact on the services provided to UK consumers and businesses.
To delve deeper into this topic, read the Finextra article.
