According to the results of new survey by YouGov the majority of Brits are in the dark when it comes to understanding the impact of open banking on the industry and what it means for them personally, with only 28% of adults surveyed were aware of the term.

Open banking was introduced in a bid to encourage competition through increased customer choice, by allowing, for example, account information from different financial providers to be made available for display by third party solutions and applications like money management platforms. 20% agreed that these account aggregation services provided the most value from the open banking initiative so far.

Can Open Banking Still Succeed?

However, with such low levels of understanding about what open banking is, it’s unsurprising that adults are unsure about the impact the service will have overall, with 63% stating they aren’t sure either way about whether open banking is a positive change that will really benefit consumers, and only 14% saying that it will bring change for the better.

The introduction of open banking was seen as a revolution for the financial services industry, however the sector expected a rapid customer movement to reflect this. The reality shown in the survey results prove otherwise, and more needs to be done to allay consumers’ fears about data security whilst financial service providers will also need to ensure that there are real benefits for consumers who are prepared to share their data in this way.

A Lack of True Innovation

It is surprising that the older generation is more aware of open banking though as 39% of those aged 55 years and over have heard of open banking, against just 14% of those aged 18-24, as experts expected a younger, more tech savvy audience to be interested in the delivery of newer, app-oriented services. In fact, despite the rise of challenger banks like Monzo, Starling and Revolut, 63% of respondents said they were satisfied with the service they got from their current bank and were not interested in using banking services from other companies.

The reality may be that true innovation is yet to take place and what has been created under open banking initiatives so far just don’t move the needle at all.