The Bank of England has named Accenture as the technology partner on the 150 million British pound [$196 million] renewal of the country's Real-Time Gross Settlement service, a move designed to overhaul the country's payments infrastructure.

RTGS is the backbone of the U.K.'s payments industry, settling an average of 685 billion pounds [$893 billion] per working day. The overhaul is designed to create a more resilient, secure system with greater interoperability and user functionality. The new system is scheduled to go into effect by 2022.

"This is a key milestone in our ambitious and exciting program to renew RTGS," Victoria Cleland, executive director for banking, payments and innovation at the Bank of England, said in a release from the agency. "I look forward to working with Accenture, and with the industry, to develop and deliver a system that is fit for the future, supporting continued innovation in (the) U.K. and global payments."

Sulabh Agarwal, a managing director at Accenture who leads the global payments practice, said the agreement will allow the Bank of England to enhance its critical infrastructure in one of the most important developments in the country's payments industry.

"The rise of digital and instant payments in recent years has dramatically changed the way we pay reflecting changes in the needs of households and companies," he said. "The renewed system will enable financial institutions to access a more modern and secure payments platform which is fit for the future."