Dear Customer,

As Form3 approaches its 10-year anniversary, it is also a natural moment to reflect not just on how far we have come, but on the environment we are operating in today and how we continue to build for the future.

It’s impossible to move in payments today without encountering the topic of infrastructure sovereignty. So, I want to reflect on what is happening, how important it is, and what it means for your business in an increasingly complex and fast-changing world.

Recent geopolitical developments, including heightened tensions in the Middle East and events involving Iran, are a reminder that resilience and forward planning are no longer theoretical concerns. They are immediate priorities for financial institutions and infrastructure providers alike.

Over the past decade, much of the financial infrastructure across the UK and Europe has consolidated and evolved within global organisations. That history is nuanced. For example, Visa began as a banking cooperative across the UK and Europe before combining with Visa Inc in the United States. This is not a simplistic “US versus Europe” debate. Rather, it is a constructive discussion about control, resilience, and long-term stability in a globally interconnected ecosystem.

At Form3, this conversation is highly relevant to us and to our global clients.

As a company founded in the UK, scaled across Europe, and expanding in the US, we recognise the importance of building strong, regionally rooted infrastructure that contributes to global stability. Payments are critical infrastructure - they simply cannot fail - and resilience must be designed in from the ground up.

The UK and Europe are moving quickly, with regulation helping to drive innovation at scale. This creates an opportunity to continue building strong domestic capability while contributing to a more diverse and competitive global landscape.

As a UK-founded and Europe-native firm, we are a natural partner for organisations in these regions. Equally, this positioning is increasingly valuable to global clients, including those in the US, who benefit from the high standards set across UK and European payments infrastructure.

Importantly, operating across multiple markets, with diverse regulatory and geopolitical exposures, can be a source of strength, supporting resilience, optionality and continuity in a changing environment.

Alongside this sits another important development: Europe’s Critical Third Party (CTP) regime in the UK, following the implementation of the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) in Europe.

Regulators are increasingly clear that resilience is not just about the quality of technology, but also about dependencies within the supply chain. In today’s geopolitical context, this broader view is essential.

The CTP regime reflects this shift, giving regulators stronger oversight of critical infrastructure providers.

We welcome this direction of travel. It aligns closely with how we have built Form3 over the past decade, with resilience, scalability, and reliability at the core of our platform, including our multi-cloud architecture.

That 10-year journey has been one of continuous investment in building infrastructure that can support critical financial systems at scale, across markets, and through periods of change.

This means our clients are already benefiting from infrastructure designed to meet the standards that regulators are now formalising.

While regulatory approaches differ across regions, our commitment to resilience is global. Regardless of where our clients operate, they benefit from the same high standards embedded in our platform.

For us, the increasing focus on sovereignty, resilience, and critical third parties is a positive development. It supports a stronger, more stable payments ecosystem and encourages continued investment in infrastructure that can stand the test of time.

The conversation around infrastructure sovereignty will continue, and rightly so. Payments are foundational to economic stability, and the systems that support them must be robust and future-ready.

Our role is not to polarise that debate, but to contribute constructively, by continuing to build infrastructure that supports growth, resilience, and competitiveness across global markets.

As we approach our 10-year anniversary, this is not just a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come, but to consider how we continue to build for what comes next.

As ever, if you would like to discuss how these developments affect your organisation, we would be delighted to continue the conversation.