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Payment Exception Project

Department for Work & Pensions

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

Award

20 Aug 2026 at 15:15

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
TenderUpdate

23 Oct 2025 at 16:47

UK4 - Tender Notice
TenderUpdate

10 Oct 2025 at 15:22

UK4 - Tender Notice
Tender

09 Sep 2025 at 15:58

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

30 Jul 2025 at 15:54

UK3 - Planned Procurement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Work & Pensions procured a payment exception service for customers who are entitled to payments but do not have a transactional account with a bank, building society or credit union. The service provides an alternative payment method to BACS, enabling customers to receive their entitlement on the relevant payment date. This is a financial and banking services requirement, including payment processing, funding arrangements, customer functionality, payment returns and data provision. Delivery covers the United Kingdom. The requirement also includes customer support and safeguarding, financial inclusion, disaster recovery, business continuity, incident management, fraud prevention, data protection, audit, accessibility and regulatory compliance. It involves a DWP agent portal, helpdesk support, training, management information and reporting, as well as implementation, migration and service set-up.

The procurement is complete and PayPoint Network Ltd was selected as the supplier on 20 August 2026. The award remains subject to a standstill period ending on 1 September 2026, with contract signature scheduled by 30 September 2026. The awarded value is £12,997,124 excluding VAT, or £15,596,549 including VAT. The awarded contract period is 1 March 2027 to 28 February 2030, with renewal options of up to 24 months, potentially extending to 29 February 2032. DWP used an above-threshold open competitive flexible procedure. The single lot was evaluated primarily on quality, including the payment solution and funding solution, with social value weighted at 10%; other quality criteria covered implementation, operations, resilience, support, security, financial services and compliance. One valid bid was recorded.

This requirement shows demand from DWP for a supplier able to operate a reliable alternative payments service for people who cannot use standard bank-based payments. A credible competitor would need financial and banking services capability, secure payment processing and funding arrangements, and the operational capacity to manage payments, returns, customer data and reporting at national scale. Evidence of robust implementation, migration and service set-up would be important, alongside tested disaster recovery, business continuity and incident management. Suppliers should also be able to demonstrate customer support, safeguarding, financial inclusion, fraud prevention, data protection, audit, accessibility and regulatory compliance. Experience supporting public-sector users through an agent portal, helpdesk and training would strengthen a future response. The procurement identified the requirement as suitable for SMEs and voluntary, community or social enterprises.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Payment Exception Project

Notice Description

Payment Exception Project is a cash-out service required to fulfil the Secretary of State obligation to ensure payment of entitlement to customers who do not have a transactional account (bank, building society, credit union). The service supports unbanked customers to receive payment of entitlement through an alternate method of payment to that of the BACS payment process, on a date of payment entitlement.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: For clarity, the value of PS14,649,875 excluding VAT in the 'Total Value (estimated)' section of the Tender Notice is the estimated value for the initial 3-year period. The value across the total contract term including all potential extensions is PS24,501,147 excluding VAT. We do not consider that this information will have a material impact on providers ability to respond to the ITT documents and therefore it is not necessary to extend the tender deadline or re-open the clarification deadline. However, if any bidder has any questions regarding the clarified values please do contact us via the procurement portal in the usual way.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-056964
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079547-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

66 - Financial and insurance services

CPV Codes

66000000 - Financial and insurance services

66110000 - Banking services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£22,532,075 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
£22,532,075 £10M-£100M
Awards Value
£12,997,124 £10M-£100M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
20 Aug 20266 days ago
Submission Deadline
27 Oct 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
9 Sep 2025Expired
Award Date
20 Aug 20261 weeks ago
Contract Period
1 Mar 2027 - 28 Feb 2030 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Department for Work & Pensions
Additional Buyers

Department for Work and Pensions

Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1H 9NA
Postcode Area
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Paypoint Network LTD

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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