A future model for how the UK’s Open Banking functions can continue and progress once the current implementation phase ends early next year has been set out in a new report by UK Finance, in association with Accenture.

The Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) final Open Banking implementation roadmap is due to end in early 2021, with the banking industry required to then keep the Open Banking function running.

The report, titled Open Banking – Future State, describes Open Banking as a secure way to share financial information across multiple providers, used in products such as account aggregation, where customers who have accounts across multiple banks can see all their account information in one place.

UK Finance stated that the banking industry has invested an estimated £1.5bn in infrastructure since the launch of Open Banking in 2016 by nine of the largest banks, as well as Payments UK, which is now part of UK Finance.

The new report has set out how the transition could be achieved and proposed that at the end of the current roadmap, Open Banking functions are maintained and moved into a service company that is governed and funded by the wider banking industry in a “fair and equitable” way. UK Finance said the goal of the next phase is to maintain what has been achieved.

To ensure a fair and representative governance structure across the industry, the report also recommended that the service company board should consist of a “mix” of independent and industry experts with customer experience.

“Open Banking is a significant technological and regulatory initiative which has huge potential for the future,” UK Finance managing director personal finance, Eric Leenders, commented. 

“It is vital that the Open Banking service community works together to ensure that the transition from the current roadmap to a more permanent plan is smooth, enabling the UK to maintain its world leading position in Open Banking as it develops.”

Managing director in Accenture’s UK banking practice, Tom Graham, added: “As the power of Open Banking continues to gain momentum and drive welcome innovation in the UK for the benefit of consumers, community collaboration is vital to ensuring this continues.

“This report lays out the next steps for building on the highly successful foundations the UK has built – maintaining the country’s technical lead, supporting business models built on this infrastructure, whilst considering what might come next.”

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