What entity was formed to consolidate payment schemes in the UK?

The entity formed to consolidate payment schemes in the UK is Pay.UK. Established in 2018, Pay.UK was created to oversee and manage the country's payment infrastructure, specifically focusing on providing a more streamlined and efficient system for processing payments. This includes managing key payment services such as the Faster Payments Service and Bacs, which are essential for day-to-day financial transactions in the UK.

Pay.UK's formation came as a response to the need for a centralized body to enhance coordination among various payment schemes and ensure that the UK’s payment systems are fit for the future, financially inclusive, and able to handle innovations in the payments landscape.

In contrast, other options like the UK Payments Authority and the Bank of Payments do not exist as formal entities within the UK payment framework, while the Payment Systems Regulator focuses more on regulatory oversight rather than consolidating payment schemes. Thus, Pay.UK stands out as the definitive answer to the question of which entity was specifically formed for this purpose.