Open Banking February Highlights 204 regulated providers made up of 134 third party providers and 70 account providers, with 61 regulated entities that have at least one proposition live with customers. Commenting on the February highlights for Open Banking, Trustee of the OBIE, Imran Gulamhuseinwala OBE said: “Since open banking regulation came into effect, we’ve seen a host of innovative products launch to help people manage their finances – whether that’s through better budgeting, automating savings, comparing products, or finding ways to clear debt. Open Banking continues to grow rapidly and has surpassed one million customers who are already connecting their bank accounts with trusted third parties. Innovation and agility are a cornerstone of Open Banking and we are impressed and humbled that during these current challenging times many members of the Open Banking community are determined to step up and play their part in helping the country weather the COVID-19 crisis. A meaningful number of third-party providers are developing new propositions, enabled by Open Banking, to help people and businesses deal with the unprecedented economic circumstances that have resulted from the lockdown. They are innovating and adapting products to the new economic environment to better serve consumers and SMEs.“ #PoweroftheNetwork Fronted, 11FS, Coconut and Credit Kudos collaborated with others to set up COVID Credit which lets sole traders self-certify lost income. TrueLayer has opened its platform for assisting any individual or business during the COVID-19 outbreak. Experian will be offering its Affordability Passport to organisations, including debt charities and lenders, for free. Citizen is working on developing a platform that helps financial distribution agencies, such as charities, ensure that their funds are going to the right people. Citizen has an existing partnership with Shelter and is offering their service freely to other UK charities and healthcare providers. Powered by Open Banking Barclays app now lets customers make payments from accounts with other banks Open Banking Payments set to speed up the brokerage market with True Layer and Stake Lloyds Banking Group partners with Google to provide Open Banking services Elavon and Nuapay collaborate to provide Open Banking in Europe SME lending marketplace Funding Xchange launches Open Banking Did you see? 28 February: Open Banking released the latest API metrics, showing how providers’ APIs performed in January. 17 February: Open Banking published the latest Service Quality Indicators APIs. Information correct as at 29 February 2020. Produced by Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE). – – – ENDS – – – 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 cash flow 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.