Nationwide wide of the mark for UK open banking launch
I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date. No time to say hello, good-bye, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late
The Nationwide Building Society missed the deadline for the launch of the UK’s opening banking system on 13 January despite a last-minute extension.
As reported in December, the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE), the body created by personal and small business current account providers, confirmed that the UK will be the first nation to launch open banking.
Via open banking, customers can, if they choose, use services from a range of different types of regulated companies without the need to share credentials with any third parties.
The UK’s nine biggest current account providers were told by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to be ready. Allied Irish Bank, Danske and Lloyds can give themselves a pat on the back as they were ready. If you have a notebook allow me to stick a gold star inside.
However, last year, five banks said they would not be able to release the relevant data sets by the specified date. These naughty ones were the Bank of Ireland, Barclays, HSBC, RBS and Santander. They have been given extra time.
Nationwide says it has agreed a new timeline with the CMA for implementation and will start the system in March.
