Posted By Gbaf News
Posted on July 20, 2017
“This represents the next step in the transformation and opening up of the UK banking industry to the benefit of consumers and businesses.”
Imran Gulamhuseinwala, Trustee, Open Banking
Open Banking, the implementation entity set up by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) to enable a new, secure way for customers to take control of their financial data and share it with organisations other than their banks, is pleased to announce the release of its Accounts and Transaction Information and Payments Initiation API Specifications.
Open Banking has developed specifications that determine how banks and building societies should enable other regulated companies to, with the customer’s express permission, access accounts and send payments. Using these standardised API specifications, banks and authorised third parties are now able to begin developing new, innovative propositions and to tailor their products and solutions to the individual needs of consumers and businesses. These specifications are now available on www.openbanking.org.uk.
The payments initiation API will enable third parties to set up secure payments on behalf of customers and, once authorised by the customer, submit the payment for processing. The specification currently caters for the submission of a single, immediate, domestic payment from UK personal and business current accounts and is payment scheme agnostic, meaning that processing can take place via any payment system operator.
Imran Gulamhuseinwala, Trustee of the Open Banking Implementation Entity, said:
“This is the next step in the transformation and opening up of the banking industry to the benefit of consumers and businesses. In March, we delivered on the first of the CMA Remedies with version 1 of the branch, ATM and product data APIs from the nine largest business and personal current account providers in the UK.
“The specifications we are releasing today, which will be live from January next year, provide the platform for developers from banks, fintechs and other organisations to build new web and mobile applications that will deliver a safer, more personalised and easier banking experience for consumers wishing to search, select and switch financial products in a secure environment.
“We are on track with our plans to develop a world leading open banking service where consumers will be able to significantly benefit from moving, managing and making more of their money.”
