This past week, Open Banking Limited announced that the Competition and Markets Authority has officially confirmed the full completion of the final Roadmap for Open Banking. This milestone, building on the “substantial completion” announced in 2023, means that all nine banking providers mandated by the Competition and Markets Authority under the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order have successfully completed the roadmap and associated required functionality to offer the full suite of open banking payment and account information services.
Since the announcement of a “substantial completion” of the roadmap, the final banking providers, Danske Bank, Bank of Ireland, and Allied Irish Bank, have fully delivered all their roadmap requirements, including variable recurring payments (VRPs) for sweeping. This development brings enhanced financial control, smarter payments, and greater flexibility to all customers across the United Kingdom.
Open Banking Limited said the delivery of VRP for sweeping functionality opens significant opportunities for fintechs to collaborate with these banking providers, introducing new and innovative financial services to their customers. By leveraging sweeping functionality, third-party providers (TPPs) can help drive the next wave of financial innovation.
“Open banking has transformed the payments and data landscape in the UK, enabling customers and small businesses to leverage their current account information securely with TPPs, who use that data to tailor their products and services to peoples’ specific financial circumstances,” Open Banking Limited said. “It also offers a new, secure way to pay for goods and services.”
In July, open banking had 11.32 million users, a 12% gain from June. Just under 20 million payments were made. VRPs represented 2.45 million, a 23.9% gain. The open banking system is estimated to be worth north of £4 billion and is said to be supporting the creation of thousands of skilled digital jobs.
The roadmap completion prepares the UK for the next phase of financial innovation as the industry moves beyond the Competition and Markets Authority order. The UK government’s introduction of the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill is coming soon. This is expected to build on the achievements of open banking and deliver the benefits of data sharing to smart data schemes in key economic sectors, including energy, telecoms, transport and retail.
“The CMA’s confirmation of the roadmap’s full completion is a major achievement for open banking in the UK,” Open Banking Limited trustee and chair Marion King said. “I’d like to pay tribute to the banking providers who have successfully implemented the Roadmap, and the ecosystem and wider stakeholders for their hard work and collaboration that allowed us to reach this major milestone in a relatively short period.”
“The rollout of sweeping functionality across all the CMA9 is a crucial step in extending the benefits of open banking to a broader range of customers,” Open Banking Limited CEO Henk Van Hulle added. “As we look ahead, the next exciting chapter will involve exploring the potential of commercial VRPs, which can revolutionize the way businesses manage payments. We are eager to see how third-party providers will harness this new capability to drive further innovation in the financial sector.”
“Today’s update is an important milestone,” Competition and Markets Authority senior director Dan Turnbull said. “The completion of the roadmap cements the move to the future of Open Banking, one that can expand the benefits of Open Banking beyond the scope of the CMA’s order.”
“As we move towards this future, we will continue to ensure the standard is maintained and that the nine banking providers are held to their ongoing obligations under the CMA’s order.”