In January 2018, the UK forced nine of its major banks to enable third-party access to their clients’ data. It meant the UK took a prominent position in the development of ”open banking”, although the process is largely underway across Europe backed by the EU’s directive PSD 2.
Quiet but not still
Now one year on, some look back to evaluate the first year. News site Treasury Today refers a survey study, by treasury management and payments firm Centtrip, indicating that many decision makers on the corporate side see both potential, despite being cautious of risks involved. Another publication, The Global Treasurer, draws a comparison between open banking and previous re-regulations in telecoms and energy.
Cautious but curious
According to the Centtrip study, nine out of ten senior decision makers in medium or large companies have heard of open banking, according to the study. Of these, in turn, 38 percent are already benefitting from the initiative, while nearly 60 percent have yet to tap into its potential.
Of those corporates who are aware of open banking, 70 percent think sharing their data with third parties sounds risky. Still, 64 percent agree that open banking could save them time managing their finances.
The Global Treasurer’s comparison with telecoms and energy points out that in these industries, disrupting effects of the regulation changes can still be seen several decades on. Thus, judging the shift in banking by evident results only in the first year would be myopic.
Danske on the list
The nine banks forced to open access to their data since 13 January 2018, under the UK open banking initiative driven by the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA), are Barclays, Lloyds, Santander, Danske, HSBC, RBS, Bank of Ireland, Nationwide and AIBG.