Guide to open banking and smart data in the telecoms sector

Mobile phone and broadband services are now an essential household utility, but as costs increase, many consumers and businesses are keen to find better deals.

Our guide explains how open banking can offer cost savings and support faster switching. We also examine how open banking payments can help telecoms companies streamline billing and collection.

Small Business Saturday: how open banking helps tackle late payments and unlock SME lending

As the UK celebrates Small Business Saturday, Luke Ryder, OBL Strategy and Policy Director, sets out how open banking and smart data can help tackle two perennial problems for SMEs and sole traders: late payments and access to business borrowing.

He also explains how open banking can help businesses digitise operations, reduce administrative burdens, and unlock cost savings.

Looking to the future of commercial variable recurring payments

The National Payments Vision demonstrated that the Government has a clear agenda for the future of payments and open banking, and commercial variable recurring payments (CVRPs) have a part to play.

Nick Davey, OBL Head of Strategy, examines how CVRPs can transform the payments landscape for consumers, merchants and billers. He also sets out the first wave of use cases.

NOVEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

OBL Trustee Marion King commented: “The Government’s National Payments Vision is hugely welcome, and rightfully identifies the role that open banking payments play in driving innovation and competition in payments.

There are 11m active users of open banking and the ecosystem is already worth more than £4bn to the economy. We must now seize the opportunities before us to move open banking to a sustainable, commercial model.”

Blackbullion uses open banking to speed up student funding and support financial education

Financial education platform Blackbullion offers an open banking-powered money management app to help students in higher education get to grips with their finances.

It also uses open banking eligibility checks, powered by data firm Bud, to speed up student funding via its Funds Management System.

Vodafone partners with Moneyhub on open banking assessment for affordable mobile tariff

Vodafone’s VOXI For Now tariff offers discounted data, calls and texts for people receiving government benefits.

The mobile provider uses Moneyhub’s open banking powered eligibility checker to quickly assess customer’s finances and speed up access to services.