Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has emerged as a leading contender to take over the running of the UK's Faster Payments Service, according to Sky News.
TCS has "edged ahead" of current operator, Mastercard-owned Vocalink, says Sky, citing people close to the competitive procurement process.
Pay.UK is running the process as part of the UK's New Payments Architecture, which will replace the current Faster Payments and Bacs retail interbank payment system, with clearing and settlement taking place over a single purpose-built central infrastructure.
Says Pay.UK in a statement: "We have carefully examined prospective vendors and considered all relevant data, competition and regulatory requirements. We are now going through the necessary regulatory non-objection and assurance process. We will not comment further while the process is ongoing."
The process will also need to be reviewed by the Payment Systems Regulator and the Bank of England. However, it is currently paused while the government carries out its recently announced Visions for Payments strategy.