Scottish Government partners Scott Logic on public sector payments platform

The Scottish Government has been working in partnership with Scott Logic on a new payments platform through which public sector organisations can make “quick and secure” payments to payees.

The new platform, called ‘ScotPayments’, is currently in a private beta phase and will continue to be “refined and developed” before going live, according to Scott Logic, which has been the technology and implementation partner at each stage of delivery.

After 18 months in private beta, as of January 2024, ScotPayments had processed approximately £20 million in payments with private beta partner Independent Living Fund Scotland.

ScotPayments has been built to Open Banking standards, with support for BACS payments implemented to date.

Nick Betts, head of client services, public sector at Scott Logic confirmed on LinkedIn that Open Banking payments “are on the roadmap”.

More payment methods will be added in future releases, including high-value payments (CHAPS), Single Euro Payments (SEPA), Faster Payments, international payments, and inclusive payments to support individuals who are without access to mainstream banking.

The Scottish Government is investing in ScotPayments as part of its ‘Digital Strategy’ to support the “transformation” of public services.

With more than 200 public bodies in Scotland making millions of payments annually, by digitising the end-to-end process through ScotPayments, the aim is to process 25 million transactions every year.

According to Scott Logic, the scalable payments platform reduces processing time and costs, while cyber and fraud risk is also lowered.