Pay.UK appoints David Pitt as new Chief Executive Officer

By Megha Bhattacharya

Pay.UK , the operator and standards body for the UK’s retail interbank payment systems, has named David Pitt as its new Chief Executive Officer. Pitt will assume the role in July, taking over from interim CEO Matthew Hunt, who has been appointed to the newly created role of Chief Strategy Officer, Deputy CEO.

Pitt has previously held a number of senior roles with RSA across both RSA Insurance and More Th>n, including having been CEO of RSA Greater China. More recently, Pitt was COO of esure Group, a role which he left last July to become COO of Test, Trace and Containment where he led a transformation strategy to boost its effectiveness. As CEO, Pitt will lead the operation of our robust and resilient payment schemes, and spearhead Pay.UK’s new five-year strategy, working with participants and stakeholders to further the development and protection of the interbank retail payments infrastructure, including the NPA, in the UK.

Mark Hoban, Chair of Pay.UK, said: “With a strong and successful track record of leading organisations through periods of transformational change, and having been instrumental in delivering a number of high-profile projects, David is the right person to lead Pay.UK during this pivotal time for industry. His appointment confirms our commitment to completing the transformation of the UK’s interbank retail payments infrastructure through the New Payments Architecture (NPA) programme; strengthening its resilience and boosting innovation and I am delighted to welcome David to our strong team.”

David Pitt, incoming Chief Executive Officer said: “Pay.UK is an organisation that is fundamental to the day-to-day lives of millions of people in the UK. Making payments faster, safer and easier in an increasingly digital world is our priority and as the architects of the UK’s payment system, working with the team, we will continue to provide the resilience and innovation consumers and businesses need every day.”

The newly-created Chief Strategy Officer, Deputy CEO position will be responsible for defining and executing Pay.UK’s long-term strategy, together with the CEO and the Board A key part of this role will be around how we work with our stakeholders to deliver better outcomes for payments end users. Matthew Hunt said: “I am very proud of our recent achievements. We have seamlessly delivered our part of the UK’s critical national infrastructure during the pandemic, supported the Government with its Covid-19 response, as well as launching important new standards and services for customers, such as Confirmation of Payee and Request to Pay. There is a lot more to do in areas like the NPA and I am looking forward to supporting David in making further progress. The new Chief Strategy Officer, Deputy CEO role will enable me to continue working with all of our stakeholders to ensure Pay.UK can drive better outcomes for retail payments users.”