Intellectual Property Office to use GOV.UK Pay for online payments

From 23 August the Intellectual Property Office's (IPO) online customers will no longer move away from GOV.UK branded screens when making a payment, as the agency stops using the Barclaycard service they have been using for the past four years.

Over 200 other UK government organisations in taking fee payments using GOV.UK Pay for over 500 different services. GOV.UK Pay is secure and fully Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant. 

At the same time IPO is simplifying the process of paying fees for paper forms. Instead of receiving a 16 character reference after a user makes a payment, they will now receive a 10 character payment reference. 

Feedback from IPO's customers highlighted that the previous reference was too long and easily confused with a credit card number. Moving to a shorter reference removes that confusion and makes it easier to enter accurately.

The changes come as new banking industry rules come into force over the next few months to reduce online fraud. Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) means that some users will be asked by their bank to verify their identity using a ‘second factor’ when making online payments.