CMA

Trustee Directions issued to Bank of Ireland, Danske Bank and HSBCG

20 December 2018
CMA

The Implementation Trustee of the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) has issued Trustee Directions under Article 11.6 and Schedule 1 of the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017 to Bank of Ireland, Danske Bank and HSBC Group* (HSBCG).

These Directions come into force with effect from 20th December 2018 and will continue to be in force until such time they are varied or revoked by the Implementation Trustee under the Order.

Commenting on the Directions, Implementation Trustee Imran Gulamhuseinwala OBE said: “Bank of Ireland, Danske Bank and HSBC have each confirmed that they are facing up to a six month delay in providing customers with the benefits of App to App Redirection for Payment Initiation Services (PIS) functionality. This functionality is due in release 3 and therefore this delay represents a failure to comply with the CMA Order.

“The majority of release 3 functionality will be in place by these banks at the required time, however the delay in App to App redirection (PIS) is disappointing and is likely to slow down the rate of Open Banking adoption. Any further slippage or failure to comply will have further repercussions and result in further Directions.”

View the Directions on the Open Banking website.

View the full list of Directions issued by the CMA under the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order (CMA website)

*  HSBCG includes HSBC Retail Bank, First Direct and M&S Bank for the purposes of this announcement

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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 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.