Britain's competition watchdog gives banks extra time to implement open banking
Reuters
Published Dec 19, 2017 13:55
Britain's competition watchdog gives banks extra time to implement open banking
(Reuters) - Britain's competition watchdog has given five banks extra time to comply with so-called open banking plans aimed at boosting competition in retail banking after the lenders said they would not be ready by a January deadline.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) set out individual timelines on Tuesday for Barclays Plc (L:BARC), HSBC (L:HSBA), Royal Bank Of Scotland (L:RBS), Santander (MC:SAN) UK
Each of the five banks was given a tailored plan with actions they must take to implement open banking with different deadlines set over the next year or so.
Britain's nine biggest banks are getting ready for open banking, which would involve sharing customers’ data with third parties that can then use it to build or recommend better suited products.
Under the new system, rivals can show a bank's customers how much they could save by switching lenders. Financial technology, or fintech, companies are expected to offer smartphone apps and web sites that use customers' information to enable them to compare bank charges. (http://reut.rs/2mOs8L0)
Banking data - dealing with matters as varied as account transactions, mortgage payments and fitness club subscriptions - are currently not easy to share with a third party in a format that computers can read for feeding into apps or for use by new banks getting off the ground.
The government wants to increase competition on the high street in a sector dominated by just five banks - HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds (LON:LLOY), RBS and Santander UK.
Under the original schedule, open banking for current accounts was due to begin on Jan. 13, with a managed roll-out finishing in March 2018.
"Members welcome the 'managed start' approach and will concentrate in the formative weeks on supporting the phased and controlled release of the various banks’ APIs," said Ian Major, operations director at financial technology company Runpath, referring to an application programming interface, or the tools for building software.
Get The App
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.