Download the February 2022 highlights 336 regulated providers made up of 244 third party providers and 92 account providers, with 124 regulated entities that have at least one proposition live with customers. Commenting on the February highlights, Charlotte Crosswell, OBIE Trustee and Chair, said: “In February we celebrated passing the 5 million active user milestone. This accelerated growth shows the increasing appetite of consumers and small businesses to leverage the technology to move, manage and make more of their money. I also had the pleasure of speaking at the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Open Banking and Payments, updating Parliamentarians and other key stakeholders on the progress we have made and the potential of open banking to deliver even more innovation and benefits as we move beyond the implementation phase. The FCA stated that open banking is a “glowing success,” recognition that our ecosystem should be proud of. We have continued to make progress in implementing VRPs (Variable Recurring Payments) for Sweeping, an innovation which will revolutionise our payments industry. These are all strong indications that open banking is here to stay.” Powered by open banking Loqbox gives renters the ability to build their creditworthiness After polling its members and learning that 92% of LOQBOX renters want to own their own home, the money app has launched a new service to help them build up their credit worthiness. LOQBOX Rent uses Moneyhub’s open banking technology to track, and report rent payment behaviour to Experian. This makes it easier for renters to seamlessly add rental payment information to their credit report, strengthen their credit score, improve their chances of accessing fair, affordable credit and securing a mortgage in the future. Cheddar acquires open banking technology firm Upside Cheddar operates as a bank account-enabled payments platform that is free for consumers to use. Acquiring Upside’s technology will allow the firm to begin to implement open banking as part of its services. Commenting on the acquisition Tariq Zaid, CEO and Founder at Cheddar, said: “We believe this will add substantial value for our customers whilst also complementing our other services and operations. We look forward to exploring these new open banking opportunities to enhance our customer offering.” Vyne and Gr4vy partner to enable instant open banking payments for merchants The partnership trend continues. Vyne, the specialist account-to-account payments platform, announced a new partnership with Gr4vy, a leading cloud-native payment orchestration platform (POP), that will give online merchants access to open banking payments infrastructure. As eCommerce becomes the cornerstone of retail, Vyne’s open banking technology gives merchants access a single view of transaction data and thereby an enhanced understanding of their business as well as greater control over their finances. Snoop wins Best Open Banking Solution at Banking Tech Awards Open banking-powered personal finance app Snoop took the win at this year’s Banking Tech Awards. Snoop uses open banking data and advanced analytics to help consumers find their biggest money-saving opportunities, as well as help them manage their money. Key highlights OBIE Trustee Charlotte Crosswell Appears at APPG On the 22nd of February, Charlotte Crosswell joined the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Open Banking and Payments panel discussion. The theme of the panel was “Managing the transition to a new Open Banking governance model.” Under the Chair of MP, Ian Liddell-Grainger, the panel discussed topics including the next steps towards a new Open Banking governance model, progressing the UK’s global lead in Open Banking, and ensuring it evolves to encompass Open Finance and other sectors through Smart Data, as well as how best to ensure that Open Banking delivers for consumers and businesses while achieving a bigger vision beyond the CMA (Competition & Markets Authority) banks. FCA recognise the success of open banking Sheldon Mills, Executive Director of consumers and competition at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said that he sees open banking as a “glowing success.” This followed OBIE announced that it had passed the significant milestone of five million users benefiting from open banking-powered products and services. In the article published in Peer2Peer Finance News, Mills also underlined the importance of maintaining the “successful mechanism” in the move towards the next phase of open banking and the importance of expanding the use of open data sharing into other forms of financial services. VRPs under the spotlight The Independent highlighted Variable Recurring Payments as the new way of making payments and moving money between your accounts. The piece quoted Victor Trokoudes, CEO, and co-founder of investment app Plum, saying: “It’s really important that we as an industry still apply pressure to the Open Banking system, to help ensure that innovation and improvements continue for the benefit of consumers.” OBIE launches campaign for charities As part of its first co-ordinated campaign, the OBIE published an innovative ebook which explains how open banking payment solutions can help charities increase fundraising revenue. The campaign was supported by three case studies from JustGiving, Wonderful, and Pledjar which set out the cost savings and administrative efficiencies offered by open banking, as well as new ways to raise funds through options such as digital ’round-ups’. – – – ENDS – – – For further information, please contact: press@openbanking.org.uk About Us The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) is the entity set up by the CMA in 2016 to deliver open banking. Its trading name is Open Banking Limited. The OBIE is governed by the CMA and funded by the CMA 9 (Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Barclays, Danske, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, Natwest Group and Santander). It works with the CMA 9, as well as challenger banks, financial technology companies, third party providers and consumer groups. The OBIE’s role is to: Enforce the obligations on the CMA 9 under the CMA OrderDesign the specifications for the Application Programme Interfaces (APIs) that banks and building societies use to securely provide open bankingSupport regulated third party providers and banks and building societies to use the OBIE’s Open Banking StandardsCreate security and messaging standardsManage the OBIE’s open banking Directory which allows regulated participants like banks, building societies and third-party providers to enrol in open bankingProduce guidelines for participants in the open banking ecosystemSet out the process for managing disputes and complaints