PSD2 and Open Banking empower the customer, through explicit consent, to ensure that chosen third party providers can access data, make payments and provide them with innovative financial solutions.

FDATA, which represents the fintech industry on the Open Banking Implementation Entity Steering Group, was set up by six fintech companies in 2014 at the request of HM Treasury, and has been working directly with government, regulatory authorities and financial industry stakeholders to open up Britain’s financial sector to the benefits of financial data and technology.

Commenting upon the launch, FDATA Chairman Gavin Littlejohn said:

“This is an important day for consumers and small businesses. From today, PSD2 gives consumers the right to share their payments data with their chosen third party apps without any lingering fear that they are breaching the terms of their bank account, and those third party providers are being brought into a regulated environment to further increase consumer protection.

“In the UK, the delivery by the nine largest current account providers of a common Open Banking standard has provided the opportunity to reduce fragmentation, enhance innovation and provide additional security measures for the whole ecosystem.”

Expansion of Fintech

“The standardisation of Open Banking delivery will see the continued expansion of fintech companies, models and products, and this is an extremely exciting time for the consumer and for UK plc.

“However, Open Banking in the UK is merely the first waypoint on a long journey. The scope of this launch – only current accounts and only from certain banks – is limited, and customers will only experience the full benefits when the scope is expanded.

“FDATA has successfully campaigned to get us this far, and we will now campaign with renewed vigour to bring all financial products, from all over the world, into a standardised open banking system.

“The drive towards open banking has been, and will remain, customer outcome led. The fintech industry exists because customers required better outcomes. Today is the day where consumers of financial technology in the UK can know for sure that they are being listened to.”