The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) is pleased to announce the final version of the Customer Experience Guidelines that set out how the Open Banking Standards should be implemented to ensure a great customer experience. The Customer Experience Guidelines are critical components of the Standards and were created in close consultation with the financial services and technology sectors as well as consumer and business representatives. They are underpinned by a wide range of independent research which has given valuable insight into how to ensure that security, trust, speed, transparency and control are all evident and effective throughout the customer journey. While the Customer Experience Guidelines will evolve over time as new Open Banking services are created, the foundations laid in this version set the standard for how to treat and protect customers. Commenting on the publication, Faith Reynolds, Consumer Representative to the OBIE said: “The benefits of Open Banking are potentially significant. From budgeting apps to personalised quotes and money advice, this is a new capability that can make the boring and anxiety-inducing task of managing money simpler, quicker and more convenient. Those benefits can only be realised if consumers are respected, protected and have real confidence that they can use Open Banking easily, safely and get help when things go wrong. The Customer Experience Guidelines are a really great framework for helping to ensure that happens across the new ecosystem of services.” Imran Gulamhuseinwala OBE, Trustee of the OBIE said: “It has always been clear that while Open Banking is driven by world-leading technology standards, its success depends on how well it serves customers. The Customer Experience Guidelines establish a high bar for service and put the customer’s experience at the heart of the system. I have been hugely impressed by the willingness of banks, building societies, fintechs and consumer groups to come together and help the OBIE create a foundation on which services can be built with confidence. “The key, now, will be ensuring that everyone involved builds services that conform and perform reliably. That is why we chose to make the Customer Experience Guidelines an integral part of the standards rather than subsidiary guidelines.” View the Customer Experience Guidelines 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.