The Bank of England ("the Bank") wishes to renew its current Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) service. RTGS lies at the heart of UK payments, settling more than £600bn of payments each working day. The RTGS infrastructure is over 20 years old and, despite its strong operational record, it needs to be modernised and developed to meet the needs of the future, safeguarding stability whilst enabling innovation. The Bank is seeking a Technology Delivery Partner (TDP) for the build, integration and support of the renewed RTGS system; including the design, build, integration and support of the replacement Core Settlement Engine (CSE) and designing and delivering the integration of the end to end replacement RTGS services.
Through this procurement process the Bank is seeking to select a single TDP who can provide the following services*:
- Application Development, including the design, build, test, integration and support of the Core Settlement Engine (CSE)
- Systems Integration (End to end through the RTGS Ecosystem).
- Application Maintenance
- Application Support
- Application Operations
- Service management
- Provision of technology products including software and related services.
And has the capability to assist the Bank in
- the management and delivery of projects and programmes
- strategic planning and execution
- innovation in the delivery of the services
*This list of services is not finalised or exclusive and is subject to refinement through the course of the procurement process.
It is anticipated that a maximum of five (5) Bidders will receive the invitation to participate in dialogue (ITP) following the Selection Questionnaire (SQ). Following initial dialogue and tender submission it is anticipated that (a maximum of) the three (3) highest scoring tenderers will be invited to continue to participate in dialogue (ITCP) which will be followed by Best and Final Offers (BAFO) submissions, the highest scoring of which will be the preferred bidder.
RTGS is a key part of national infrastructure. It is the platform through which monetary policy decisions are implemented and provides liquidity to the financial system. The nature of the system means that strict security controls are deployed to protect RTGS and the renewed service. As such, the Bank will, where required, apply such measures throughout the procurement process as necessary (in accordance with Regulation 15(2) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015), to protect the essential security interests of the UK. Initially, in order to protect essential security interests in respect of RTGS (and in accordance with the ability for the Bank to impose requirements aimed at protecting the confidential nature of the information in the procurement documents) access to procurement documents (other than the SQ) is restricted to those Bidders who are invited to the next stage of the procurement process following evaluation of all responses to the SQ.