Category: Standards

Open Banking Limited (OBL) is pleased to announce the publication of the Open Banking Standard version 3.1.11. This is the first release following the substantive completion of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA’s) Revised Roadmap and is mainly made up of optional updates. 

Fiona Hamilton, Head of Standards, OBL, says: “While the updates are relatively limited, we are pleased to ensure the ongoing relevance of the Open Banking Standard with new propositions such as the wallet functionality supported with this release.  

“The Standard has laid the foundations for a thriving open banking ecosystem which has now surpassed 7 million users. As the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee work unfolds, we will continue to ensure the evolution of the Standard to support future regulatory changes and market-driven requirements.” 

The proposed updates reflect Order-related activity submitted as change requests by the ecosystem that was supported by an Expert Advisory Group (EAG), and Technical Design Authority (TDA) decisions for updates to the Read/Write specifications. They also address several minor known issues. 

Key changes in v3.1.11 

These updates have driven changes to the documents listed below. The TDA approved the API specification updates on 24 May 2023 which are documented here (see decisions 259 to 262).  

For further information, please contact: press@openbanking.org.uk 

We are pleased to open the consultation for v3.1.11 of the Standard.

The proposed updates reflect Order-related activity that was supported by an Expert Advisory Group, Technical Design Authority decisions for updates to the Read/Write specifications, and address several minor known issues.

The updates also include one non-Order-related proposition funded by a member of the CMA9 (proposition P21b).

The proposed updates to each part of the Standard are clearly outlined here.

These include an overview of the changes, change logs, and forms to add feedback. Please submit a form for each part of the Standard you want to provide feedback on.

We would like to emphasise two things:

  1. For the proposed change to the guideline benchmark response time for a Confirmation of Funds ‘yes/no’ call, we seek feedback on two options as per the feedback form. These are to
    – leave it as it is today (300m/s average with a 500m/s maximum), or,
    – increase it to align with the AIS and PIS benchmark response time of 750m/s.

    Please indicate your preference, but feel free to provide additional feedback if you believe neither option is optimal.
  2. For the Dynamic Client Registration specification, the new version will not be published until Pay.UK is ready to align with this version (v3.4).

How and when to respond

We welcome responses to the consultation from all interested parties. Please send written responses by 5pm on Friday 12 May 2023.

We will assess and respond to all submitted feedback with a view to releasing v3.1.11 as a final version by the end of May 2023.

If you have any issues accessing the Confluence site or any other questions, please email us.

The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) is pleased to announce the publication of the Open Banking Standard version 3.1.10, which is the final release under the CMA’s revised roadmap.  

Fiona Hamilton, Head of Standards at the OBIE, says: “After five years, we are proud to have reached the milestone of delivering version 3.1.10 which now contains all the content required to complete the revised roadmap. The standard has laid the foundations for a thriving open banking ecosystem with more than 5 million users. We now look forward to the next phase in the evolution of the standard to support future regulatory changes and market-driven requirements.” 

Standard v3.1.10 in detail 

The updates to version 3.1.10 have been made in response to changes in the UK RTS, the requirements defined in the Transaction Risk Indicator proposition document, and feedback from ecosystem participants. These include change requests and reported errata. 

This version includes updates on: 

The above updates have driven changes to the artefacts listed below. The Technical Design Authority has also approved the API Specification. You can see details of TDA Decision 252 here. 

We have updated the following: 

For further information, please contact: press@openbanking.org.uk 

The Open Banking Implementation (OBIE) has today launched a consultation on version 3.1.10 of the OBIE Standard. This represents the next stage in the development of open banking in the UK.

This version includes updates on:

We welcome responses to the consultation from all interested parties, using the link below. The consultation process will take place between the 14th February and 4th March 2022.

How and when to respond

Please note that responses are not treated as confidential.

Next steps

We will review and publish responses before the March 2022 Implementation Entity Steering Group (IESG) meeting.

View the draft version of OBIE Standard 3.1.10

Submit feedback

Update: Summary of key proposed changes

At the request of the Expert Advisory Group (EAG) that has been assisting in developing the proposed changes, we have summarised these in an additional document providing a supporting rationale for the proposed approach. 

Moving to the new framework

Feedback from the EAG indicated that it would be useful to address key implementation issues facing the open banking ecosystem which are significant in determining optimal approaches to transitioning to the new regulatory framework but may only have a modest impact on the Standard.

We have set out some analysis on the various approaches identified in EAG discussions and developed conclusions as to a possible common approach.   

This document also contains several specific questions on each of the topics covered which we hope will assist respondents to frame their input to the consultation.

View this document here

We welcome responses to the consultation from all interested parties. Written consultation responses are due by 12pm on 4 March 2022.

You can email your response to the consultation questions raised in this summary document to obiepolicy@openbanking.org.uk. 

The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) is pleased to announce the publication of the ASPSP MI Specification which is part of the Open Banking Standard version 3.1.9.

The Standard now includes further clarifications to help ecosystem participants further improve their open banking products and services.

In the seven months since v3.1.8 was published, our ecosystem participants have requested several clarifications which have been included in this version.

The OBIE has logged 10 issues. These have been subsequently addressed and you can find out more details via the TDA decision 240. You can see the updated specification here.

Latest FAQs
We have also updated the FAQs section of the Open Banking Standard and this will be of significant interest to organisations implementing Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs) for sweeping.

We have reviewed all historical queries logged with our helpdesk and provided clarification on key topics being discussed by ecosystem participants.

OBIE’s Open Banking Standard now includes features to help ecosystem participants further improve their open banking products and services.

The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) is pleased to announce the publication of the Open Banking Standard version 3.1.9.

Many of the changes have been made in response to feedback from ecosystem participants, such as updates to the read/write API Specification, Customer Experience Guidelines (CEGs), the creation of Third-Party Provider (TPP) Guidelines and the uplift of TPP MI Specification.

API Specification

In the six months since version 3.1.8 was published, the OBIE has logged 10 issues. These have been subsequently addressed and further details can be found via the TDA decision 241.

Customer Experience Guidelines

A2(b)(iii) Evaluation of Efficacy of Consent and Access Dashboards.

The dashboards review contained several Trustee actions, which the OBIE were required to update. As a result, the following journeys have been modified:

Given the scale of change and to make it easier for TPPs to access this important content, the TPP Guidelines will now sit as a standalone section in the Open Banking Standard and will no longer be housed within Operational Guidelines.

We have updated the following:

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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.

OBIE is governed by the CMA and funded by the CMA9 (Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Barclays, Danske, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, RBS Group and Santander). It works with the CMA 9, as well as challenger banks, financial technology companies, third party providers and consumer groups. OBIE’s role is to:

The Open Banking Implementation (OBIE) has today launched a consultation on version 3.1.9 of the OBIE Standard. This represents the next stage in the development of open banking in the UK.

This versions includes updates on:

The OBIE welcomes responses to the consultation from all interested parties. The consultation process will take place between the 16th August and 3rd September 2021.

  1. The OBIE is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, 24th August at 13:00, to talk through v3.1.9 artefacts and explain the consultation process in more detail. If you wish to join this session, please register via Eventbrite here.
  2. Written consultation responses are due by midday on 3rd September 
  3. Please submit one response per organisation for each artefact.
  4. Responses are deemed to be non-confidential.
  5. Consultation responses will be reviewed, and the responses published, before the September Implementation Entity Steering Group meeting

Links to the draft version 3.1.9 of the OBIE Standard & feedback pages

 API specification

ASPSP MI Specifications & Change Log

TPP MI Specifications & Change Log

Customer Experience Guidelines & Change Log

Guidance for TPPs on use of VRPs for sweeping

Feedback pages

In addition to the above we would like to inform the ecosystem that we have updated the Variable Recurring Payment Proposition to include the agreed definition of Sweeping.

If you experience any issues accessing any of these links, please raise a ticket via the Service Desk Portal (if you have access)

https://openbanking.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/1 or email the ServiceDesk@openbanking.org.uk and we can organise access.

All other queries can be directed to press@openbanking.org.uk

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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.

The OBIE 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).

The OBIE 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:

The OBIE 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.

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.

The OBIE 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.

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.

The OBIE 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.

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.

The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) is delighted to learn that the CMA has decided, in line with the Trustee’s recommendations to mandate Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs) as the mechanism for implementing sweeping.

The CMA today published a letter to the Implementation Trustee that stated: “Making effective provision for sweeping is an important element of the open banking remedy and it is important that sweeping provisions include the ability to move funds out of current accounts into accounts earning a higher rate of interest, and conversely enables customers to access alternative and cheaper sources of short-term credit.”

Simply put, sweeping is the automatic transfer of money between a customer’s own accounts, such as moving excess funds into a separate savings account or using them to repay a loan or overdraft account.

VRPs allow customers to safely connect authorised payments providers to their bank account so that they can make payments on the customer’s behalf within agreed parameters that offer more control and transparency than existing alternatives.

This decision means that the largest UK current account providers will have to implement VRPs within the next six months and allow free access to third party providers who are using VRPs to enable their customers to move money from their current accounts to other accounts.

Commenting on the CMA’s decision, OBIE’s Implementation Trustee Imran Gulamhuseinwala OBE said:

“The CMA’s decision in line with OBIE’s advice, is a win for competition and innovation, which will deliver significant benefits to consumers and small businesses. We’ve been anticipating a decision from the CMA on this for some time now and have been on standby to implement this by the end of this year. The OBIE will now mandate Variable Recurring Payments for the purpose of sweeping, which is the automatic movement of money between an account holder’s different accounts. We like to think of it as the smarter version of direct debit payments.

This is a major step forward in payments, giving consumers more control over their money whilst also protecting them from incurring unwanted fees. It will, for example, allow surplus money to be automatically transferred from a current account to a savings account to help build a savings pot or to an overdraft or loan account to help the customer keep their borrowing costs to a minimum.

We are especially delighted as this is the last major piece of functionality to be delivered under the CMA’s open banking remedies. Over the past five years, we have built a thriving open banking ecosystem that already benefits nearly 4 million people and is growing rapidly. We look forward to the outcome of the CMA’s consultation on the future governance of open banking, which we hope will allow us to continue delivering world-leading innovation to the benefit of consumers, SMEs and the industry.”

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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 CMA9 (Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Barclays, Danske, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, Natwest Group and Santander). Its 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:

The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) is pleased to announce the publication of the Extended Customer Attributes (ECA) standard. This optional extension to the Open Banking standard is a significant enhancement and supports a range of identity-related use cases such as customer onboarding, age verification and delivery address confirmation.

The ECA Standard enables data providers, such as banks, to share or verify customer data attributes, for example age and address, with businesses that act as relying parties, such as retailers. This will reduce the time and cost associated with validating this data manually, bringing benefits to consumers, businesses and data providers.

This OBIE-designed “Premium API” Standard is not related to a regulatory requirement.

The ECA Standard was funded by seven of the largest UK banks, and designed in an inclusive way, with a wide range of participation to reflects views of consumers, businesses and banks.

For firms looking to implement the ECA standard, please see the following link for further details:

https://openbanking.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DZ/pages/2013888689/ECA+Standard+-+RC1

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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:

Version 3.1.8 of the OBIE Standard introduces major new functionality, specifically Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs).

The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) is pleased to announce the publication of Version 3.1.8. of the OBIE Standard. This is a significant enhancement to version 3.1.7, which was released in December 2020. While it does not introduce any breaking changes (hence it remains technically a patch release), it does include the addition of VRP functionality.

VRPs are an emerging and novel way for customers to securely instruct and manage payments via open banking.

Customers can provide consent to a Payment Initiation Service Provider (PISP) for a series of payments, without the need for the customer to authenticate each individual payment with their bank or account provider.

VRPs, therefore, open up new forms of financial automation, improved end-user experiences, and greater levels of consumer transparency and control.

For firms looking to implement this latest version of the OBIE standard, please see the following links for further details:

 

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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). Its 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:

 

 

The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) has published version 3.1.7 of the ASPSP Management Information (MI) Specification.

Since publishing v3.1.5 of the ASPSP MI specification on 31 June 2020, ecosystem participants have raised a number of support ticket seeking clarification on various aspects of these specifications.

The changes resulting from these tickets have fixed minor inconsistencies and updated metric definitions to improve understanding by implementers. The detailed change can be located in the MI requirement link below.

This specification was initially approved by the Technical Design Authority on 13 January 2021 and recorded as TDA Decision 230.

It was subsequently approved by the Trustee at the Implementation Entity Steering Group meeting on 27 January 2021. The specification which can be accessed via link below.

Version 3.1.7 ASPSP MI Standard

Enrolled ecosystem participants are encouraged to contact their IES Team representatives with any questions or queries regarding the version 3.1.7. update.
All other queries can be directed to press@openbanking.org.uk.

 

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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 paymes 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.

 

The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) has today published its consultation on Confirmation of Payee (CoP) and the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code and its implications for open banking payment journeys.

The OBIE welcomes stakeholder views on the CoP / CRM Consultation paper via its online Consultation Survey.

  1. CoP/ CRM Consultation paper
  2. CoP and CRM Proposition paper
  3. CoP CRM Implications for OBIE R/W API Standards

A further Preliminary Analysis paper is also being published, which sets out in more detail the preliminary findings from the consumer research commissioned exploring the effectiveness of warnings. This supplements the summary of findings presented in the Consultation Paper.

The primary focus of our consultation is the content set out in the Consultation Paper. However, we have also produced a Draft Proposition Paper and an outlining of the potential implications for the API specification. We welcome observations on the recommendations set out in these too, via the relevant Confluence Feedback pages detailed below.

Consultation Process

If you experience any issues accessing any of these links, please raise a ticket via the Service Desk Portal (if you have access) https://openbanking.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/1 or email the ServiceDesk@openbanking.org.uk and we can organise access.

 

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About the Open Banking Implementation Entity:

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. OBIE is governed by the CMA and funded by the CMA9 (Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Barclays, Danske, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, RBS Group and Santander). Its works with the CMA 9, as well as challenger banks, financial technology companies, third party providers and consumer groups.

OBIE’s role is to: