Customers can now benefit from Open Banking Services The Open Banking Implementation Entity (the ‘OBIE’), the body created by the UK’s largest personal and small business current account providers to create a better way to move, manage and make more of your money, announces that regulated companies are now able to offer new Open Banking services to consumers and businesses. Since launch on 13 January 2018, the OBIE has operated a ‘Managed Roll Out’ programme designed to prove that this critical new piece of UK financial infrastructure is ready for customers. The Managed Roll Out programme has successfully proven the account data access functionality of the Open Banking system and FCA authorised and registered third parties are now able to offer products based on it to customers. However, as regulated companies have focused on the Data capabilities of Open Banking, it has not been possible to test the Payments functionality to the same degree and, therefore, new payments-focused services will still be put through extensive proving as they engage with the system. Imran Gulamhuseinwala, Trustee of the OBIE, said: “Managed Roll Out has enabled us to introduce a vital new piece of our financial system ready for customers in just a few weeks. We have learned an enormous amount and refined the system to the point where we can be entirely confident that we can now give consumers and businesses real control of their financial data.” In addition to ending Managed Roll Out, the OBIE has also created a new service for companies coming in to the Open Banking ecosystem. ‘Launch Support’ will provide an end-to-end guidance service for third parties to ensure that they are helped to go live, from obtaining the appropriate regulation to connecting to accounts. For further information, please contact: press@openbanking.org.uk About Us Open Banking is a new, secure way for customers to take control of their financial data and share it with organisations other than their banks. Open Banking has the power to revolutionise the way we move, manage and make more of our money. For businesses, it is about making the management of cashflow and receiving payments cheaper and easier. Open Banking will make things simpler, faster and more convenient. Open Banking follows the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into the supply of personal current accounts (PCAs) and of banking services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Open Banking was created to enable innovation, transparency and competition in UK financial services. It is tasked with delivering the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), data structures and security architectures that will enable developers to harness technology, making it easy and safe for individuals and SMEs to share the financial information held by their banks with third parties. Open Banking will bring substantial benefits. It gives customers and SMEs greater market choice and greater control over their money and associated data, along with better and easier access to new financial services providers in a secure environment. Notes to Editors: 1. Open Banking Ltd was set up by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) in September 2016 to fulfil one of the remedies mandated by the CMA following an investigation into UK retail banking. 2. The CMA’s investigation into the retail banking market (whose findings were published in August 2016) concluded that older and larger banks do not compete hard enough for customers’ business and that Open Banking should deliver a new, secure option for customers to be able to compare the deal they are getting from their bank. 3. Open Banking was created to enable innovation, transparency and competition to UK financial services. It is tasked with delivering the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), data structures and security architectures that will make it easy and safe for customers to share their financial records by January 2018. 4. The data provided by Open Banking will enable developers to harness technology that allows individuals and businesses to share their financial records held by their banks with third parties. 5. Open Banking is a private body; its governance, composition and budget was determined by the CMA. It is funded by the UK’s nine largest current account providers and overseen by the CMA, the Financial Conduct Authority and Her Majesty’s Treasury. 6. The 9 mandated institutions (referred to as the CMA9) are: Barclays plc, Lloyds Banking Group plc, Santander, Danske, HSBC, RBS, Bank of Ireland, Nationwide and AIBG.