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Electronic Payment Solution for Fees and Online Shop

University of the West of Scotland

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

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03 Aug 2026 at 01:00

OJEU - F15 - Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The University of the West of Scotland procured an electronic payment platform for collecting student fees and processing payments through its online shop. The service supports customer-facing payment and online retail functions within the university’s existing technology environment. Delivery covers Paisley and the wider areas of Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and the Borders, as well as London. This is a business-to-business payment technology and service requirement rather than a purchase of payment hardware or general banking services. The buyer is a public university based in Paisley. Suppliers suited to this type of work would provide secure electronic payment infrastructure, integration with institutional systems and reliable processing for education-related fees and online retail transactions across the university’s operating locations.

The procurement is complete and has been awarded to Flywire Payments Ltd. It used a limited procedure without prior publication of a call for competition, because the university considered that technical limitations in its platform environment meant only one supplier could meet the requirements. The award covers one lot. The active contract is valued at £210,000 and was signed on 27 July 2026. The arrangement is described as a three-year agreement with a no-penalty break clause after one year; the immediate requirement was to retain the existing electronic payments service for the next 12 months. The university cited continuity during core-system upgrades, avoiding disruption, additional cost and delayed delivery as reasons for retaining the existing solution.

For suppliers that did not win, this award demonstrates established demand from the university sector for integrated payment services covering both student fee collection and online shop transactions. A credible future competitor would need a mature electronic payment platform that can operate reliably in a customer-facing university environment, integrate with existing and changing core systems, and support uninterrupted service while wider technology upgrades are under way. The buyer’s reasoning places particular weight on technical compatibility, continuity and the practical risk of switching providers. Relevant suppliers are therefore likely to be payment technology firms with proven institutional integrations, strong service continuity arrangements, experience handling education-related payments and the capacity to support both fee payments and online retail through one platform.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Electronic Payment Solution for Fees and Online Shop

Notice Description

Provision of an electronic payment platform for fee payment and online shop payments

Lot Information

Lot 1

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition Justification for selected award procedure: The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the Directive Explanation: Due to technical limitations associated with the design and development of the platform in the UWS environment, it is UWS' belief that at the current time that only one supplier can meet the requirements. Given that UWS is upgrading a number of core systems at this time, it is determined that the critical nature of the customer-facing fee payment and online retail solutions should be retained as the other vital upgrades progress, any change in the service provision and is highly likely to (i) cause a significant amount of disruption; (ii) incur significant additional cost for UWS, and (iii) negatively stretch timelines for project delivery. As such, UWS is publishing this voluntary ex-ante notice on Public Contracts Scotland to ensure compliance with procurement regulations and the continuance of its electronic payments service for the next 12 months. This contract is for the 1-year renewal of UWS' electronic payments system, used for payment of student fees and supporting online shop payments. This will retain the existing system and although UWS is only looking for 1-year, the agreement is for 3-years with a 'no-penalty' break clause at 1-year, which is determined to offer UWS best value for money as to award a 1-year agreement only would cost a significantly higher amount.

Procurement Information

Due to technical limitations associated with the design and development of the platform in the UWS environment, it is UWS' belief that at the current time that only one supplier can meet the requirements. Given that UWS is upgrading a number of core systems at this time, it is determined that the critical nature of the customer-facing fee payment and online retail solutions should be retained as the other vital upgrades progress, any change in the service provision and is highly likely to (i) cause a significant amount of disruption; (ii) incur significant additional cost for UWS, and (iii) negatively stretch timelines for project delivery. As such, UWS is publishing this voluntary ex-ante notice on Public Contracts Scotland to ensure compliance with procurement regulations and the continuance of its electronic payments service for the next 12 months. This contract is for the 1-year renewal of UWS' electronic payments system, used for payment of student fees and supporting online shop payments. This will retain the existing system and although UWS is only looking for 1-year, the agreement is for 3-years with a 'no-penalty' break clause at 1-year, which is determined to offer UWS best value for money as to award a 1-year agreement only would cost a significantly higher amount.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-r6ebe6-0000839126
Publication Source
Public Contracts Scotland
Latest Notice
https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG561503
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
OJEU - F15 - Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

66 - Financial and insurance services

CPV Codes

66115000 - International payment transfer services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£210,000 £100K-£500K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
3 Aug 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
University of the West of Scotland
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
PAISLEY
Postcode
PA1 2BE
Postcode Area
Paisley
Country
Scotland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM3 West Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM33 Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire, and Renfrewshire
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Renfrewshire
Electoral Ward
Paisley Northwest
Westminster Constituency
Paisley and Renfrewshire South

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

FLYWIRE PAYMENTS LIMITED

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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