The Government Digital Service (GDS) has announced a major upgrade to GOV.UK Pay that will see around 1,000 public sector services migrated to a new payment provider, as government looks to modernise payment infrastructure and prepare for future digital payment methods.
Under the changes, Dutch payments company Adyen will become the new payment services provider for non-Crown card payments and pay-by-bank transactions, replacing Stripe. The move affects local authorities, police forces, armed forces and other public sector organisations currently using Stripe through GOV.UK Pay. Central government departments, the NHS and arm’s-length bodies will continue to use Worldpay, with no change to their existing arrangements.
The announcement comes as GOV.UK Pay approaches its tenth anniversary, having processed more than £9 billion across over 135 million transactions since launching in 2015.
Migration planned for around 1,000 services
GDS said it will now begin migrating approximately 1,000 services to Adyen while ensuring citizens can continue making payments without disruption. The organisation stressed that users should see no noticeable difference when paying for public services and that existing functionality will be maintained throughout the transition.
Officials said the migration will also comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements designed to reduce fraud and improve payment security. GDS plans to manage much of the complexity centrally, continuing the platform’s original goal of reducing the burden on individual service teams.
According to GDS, GOV.UK Pay already saves public sector organisations significant payment processing costs while removing the need for teams to manage supplier relationships and payment infrastructure themselves.
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Beyond the supplier change, GDS says the move represents an important step towards introducing new payment options across government services.
One of the key priorities is expanding the use of pay-by-bank services, which GDS believes could reduce fraud, lower transaction costs and simplify the payment experience for users. Rather than entering card details, citizens would be able to authorise payments directly from their bank account through secure digital channels.
Broader modernisation programme underway
The supplier migration forms part of a broader programme of improvements to GOV.UK Pay.
Recent changes include updates to the platform’s administration tools, making settings easier to navigate and simplifying the process of taking services live. GDS has also upgraded its Web Application Firewall as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen security and ensure the platform remains resilient as usage continues to grow.
For local authorities and other public sector organisations using GOV.UK Pay, the migration is likely to be one of the most significant platform changes in recent years. However, GDS has indicated that disruption should be minimal and that organisations will receive ongoing support throughout the transition.
