KAREN JOY BACUDO

Finance Editor

Modulr has launched commercial Variable Recurring Payments for business collections through its Collections Hub.

The new payment option is aimed at businesses that collect high volumes of recurring payments and want an alternative to Direct Debit. It lets a company take different amounts from a customer’s bank account each month after a single initial approval, rather than seeking consent for every payment.

Each payment settles through Faster Payments, with real-time confirmation. Modulr is offering the service alongside Direct Debit and Open Banking payment options on the same collections platform.

The launch follows the rollout of the commercial Variable Recurring Payments scheme by the UK Payments Initiative. Modulr helped shape the scheme as a founding shareholder in the industry body.

Collections pressure

Modulr pointed to mounting pressure on businesses that rely on recurring collections. Direct Debit failures have risen for five consecutive years and were 9% higher in 2026 than in 2025, increasing costs for UK businesses.

The trend is likely to be closely watched in sectors where payment failures directly affect cash flow, customer service and administrative costs. High-volume billers, lenders and other businesses handling regular payments are likely to be among the earliest users of alternatives that reduce repeat authorisation steps.

Some Modulr customers are already using Variable Recurring Payments to automate collections. They include lenders such as Oakbrook, which use the payment method to give borrowers more flexibility and visibility over loan repayments, and earned wage access providers that let employees manage and repay wage advances.

The addition of commercial Variable Recurring Payments expands the range of business uses for Open Banking-based payments. By supporting variable amounts under a pre-authorised mandate, the model is designed for payment schedules that change from month to month.

Melek Pirgon, Chief Product Officer at Modulr, said: “Businesses running high-volume collections shouldn’t have to choose between reliability and flexibility. cVRP gives them both. As a founding member of UKPI, we’re now delivering cVRP to customers as part of our Collections Hub, providing a scalable alternative to traditional payments.”

Scheme rollout

The UK Payments Initiative has positioned the rollout as part of a broader shift in account-to-account payments. The framework is intended to support wider use of Open Banking for regular commercial payments beyond earlier consumer-focused applications.

Richard Koch, Managing Director of the UK Payments Initiative, said: “The launch of UKPI is a significant step in building a more modern and flexible payments ecosystem that gives businesses and consumers real choice. With Modulr bringing deep expertise in powering and scaling payment flows, we are strengthening the foundations needed to make open banking payments widely accessible, reliable and ready for everyday use.”

For Modulr, the move extends a broader product set covering payment collection, payroll, supplier payments and spend management. The company processes more than 200 million transactions and more than GBP £180 billion in annualised payment value for more than 6,000 businesses.

The launch also highlights how payment providers are combining established bank payment rails with newer Open Banking methods in a single service. For customers, that may offer more choice in how they collect funds while reducing dependence on a single scheme.

In practical terms, commercial Variable Recurring Payments could appeal to businesses whose customer bills vary each month, such as lenders, utility-style providers and subscription businesses with changing charges. Unlike standard card-on-file arrangements or fixed recurring debits, the model is designed to handle changing payment amounts under a single agreed mandate.

Modulr said customer feedback on its Collections Hub has focused on “resilience and reliability” in collection processes.

The county, which has received repeated calls for action on its highways, including from the Prime Minister, sees more than 1,000 emergency pothole reports a week.

According to the county council, there has been a major rise in repairs, with the number of crews increased from seven to 25 to tackle its pothole backlog

Since January 2026, contractor M Group has repaired more than 33,000 highway defects – compared to 37,042 potholes filled in the whole of 2024- 25.

This rise in repairs has also come with rising abuse towards the people carrying out the work.

Richard Lovewell, M Group business director, said: “It just makes me really, really sad.

“I think what makes me even sadder is the guys expect it now, and they just think it’s part of the job, and nobody should come to work to be spat at and abused.”

Richard Lovewell at Wildmere Road pothole filling trial (Image: Isabella Harris/NQ)

He explained: “These guys work very, very hard in all weathers and all environments.

“We appreciate that if we’re out with traffic management it can cause some inconvenience, but there’s people getting hit, there’s people getting sworn at, and we’re doing everything we possibly can.

“We’ve brought in body-worn video, we use static CCTV, anything that we can do.”

He added: “We recently had a high-speed police chase come through one of our sites.

“It’s one of the major hazards.

“It’s incursions – we obviously shut roads off, people don’t take any notice of that, and if that’s their shortcut, that’s their shortcut.

“What they’ve got to realise is that they’re putting lives in danger by doing that.

“Let’s be honest, if you worked in a bank, you wouldn’t expect people to line up and swear at you all day.”

Mr Lovewell wants to address “public perception” about pothole roadworks, saying “if we could, we’d resurface every road in Oxfordshire – obviously, as a contractor, we get given certain budgets”.

He added: “If a pothole fails for any reason, from a workmanship issue or anything, we repair that free of charge, and that’s our risk.

“I don’t think people know that.”

He also highlighted some of the better experiences the workers have while out on the job – young children are often fascinated by the roadworks.

Mr Lovewell said members of his work gangs “take the time to chat to the kids, tell them what they’re doing”.

He said kids especially like the ‘Dragon Patcher’ – a “huge, big, fire-breathing pothole machine”.

Abingdon-based LTi Metaltech received the title at the Manufacturing Solutions Show Awards for its contributions to UK manufacturing, including strategic growth and long-term programme delivery.

The award also recognised the company’s commitment to strengthening the future resilience of British industry.

Edgar Rayner, managing director of LTi Metaltech, said: “We are incredibly proud to receive this award.

“It reflects the expertise, dedication and professionalism of our team, whose commitment to quality and delivery has helped establish LTi as a trusted manufacturing partner.”

The honour follows a year of major achievement for the business, including a contract worth more than £45 million with Sellafield Ltd and continued investment in advanced manufacturing capabilities.

Mr Rayner said: “This recognition follows a year of significant progress for the business and reflects the trust our customers place in us to deliver complex engineering solutions where quality, reliability and compliance are critical.

“At LTi, we remain focused on our ethos of Making Stuff That Matters – engineering the components that support critical infrastructure, protect lives and power the future.”