The Open Banking Implementation Entity, the body set up to enable a new, secure way for UK customers to take control of their financial data and share it with organisations other than their banks, has today published several refinements to its plan for developing the UK’s Open Banking standards. The new plan, or development ‘roadmap’, adds measures to improve the customer experience when using Open Banking services, in particular services accessed through mobile apps. The new plan also includes some minor changes to the delivery schedules of some items. This reflects a desire on behalf of the OBIE and its partners to focus first on the functionality that matters most to customers – particularly in integrating Open Banking with existing mobile services. Imran Gulamhuseinwala OBE, Trustee of the OBIE, said: “These changes reflect our desire to put the customer first throughout our development programme. We have taken close note of the feedback received from customers and the companies deploying Open Banking services and amended our plan accordingly. “We are changing our schedules to ensure that customer journeys are better integrated into mobile platforms as early as possible and to deliver key functionality earlier. “The UK is leading the world in Open Banking. No other nation has live standards that are being used by actual customers. We are discovering new ways to improve the customer’s experience all the time and it is absolutely right that we change our plans to put them first.” View the new ‘roadmap’ here 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 cashflow 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.