A new report today Open Banking - Future State, by UK Finance in association with Accenture, sets out how the UK's world-leading Open Banking (OB) functions can continue and progress once the current implementation phase ends early next year. It follows the recent publication of the Final Open Banking Roadmap and statements by the Implementation Trustee that the successful completion of the roadmap will bring the implementation phase of Open Banking to a close.

Whilst the Final Open Banking Roadmap is due to end in early 2021, the banking and finance industry is then required to keep the OB function running. The new report sets out how this transition could be achieved and proposes that at the end of the current roadmap, the OB functions are maintained and moved into a service company that is governed and funded by the wider banking and finance industry in a fair and equitable way. It suggests too that the monitoring of the CMA Open Banking Order on the CMA9 banking and finance institutions is separate to the service company. 

The banking and finance industry has invested an estimated £1.5 billion in infrastructure since the launch of the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) in 2016. The goal of the next phase is to secure this investment, maintain what has been achieved and extend as future mandates are developed, offering the flexibility to respond to commercial API propositions as customer groups come forward to sponsor these and initiatives like Open Finance and Smart Data.

Open Banking is a significant technological and regulatory initiative which has huge potential for the future, with a wide community of firms in the Open Banking eco-system, and new products and services emerging onto the market.

The Open Banking Implementation Entity has played an important role bringing that community together to develop the standards and identity management upon which firms rely. 

The challenge over the next year is to complete the implementation and ensure that the transition from the current roadmap to a sustainable arrangement is a smooth one, enabling the UK to maintain its world leading position in Open Banking.