Open Banking has begun. For those of you that have not heard of Open Banking, they are the regulations that have been forced on the banks in order to open up competition. Given the near monopoly the main high street banks have on both personal and business banking, and their inability and lack of desire to open up to others, the banks will now be required to share customers’ data with third parties, if asked to do so by the consumer or business.
This will increase the exchange of customer data and allow alternative funders and challenger banks to better service their markets. Software developers will be able to create platforms and new products and services. Naturally, data security is vitally important in this whole process and will need to be properly regulated. However, you will not be surprised to hear that the big banks are playing the scare tactics card and warning/scaring all their customers about the risk of data theft and hacking and advising that the banks will take no responsibility for any of this. They have even been writing to their customers to this effect. Just when will the big banks realise that there is a whole new world out there and year by year, their monopoly on banking reduces!
