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UK hits 7m open banking users
More than 1 million customers used open banking for the first time in January.
The number of open banking users in the UK has just surpassed 7 million for the first time.
A mix of consumers and SMEs, this milestone comes eight months after the UK reached 6 million open banking users and just one month after the CMA Roadmap was completed.
January also marked the fifth anniversary of the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which made open banking a regulatory requirement in the UK.
Open Banking Limited (OBL) CEO Henk Van Hulle noted the significance that 1.2 million of the 7 million active open banking users in the UK are first-time users.
“From access to cost-effective credit, building a regular savings habit or making more informed financial decisions – Open Banking is delivering the means for our citizens to improve their financial well-being,” he said.
Off the back of the upward trend of open banking adoption, OBL chair and trustee Marion King is encouraging the fintech ecosystem to keep up the momentum.
She commented that open banking is “good for the nation”, increasing competition and helping both SMEs and consumers benefit from new and innovative ways to manage their finances.
“It is encouraging to see that 7 million people have been empowered to take advantage of the benefits of Open Banking,” King said.
“As we await key recommendations on the future vision for Open Banking from the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee [JROC], this strong growth underlines the need to continue the momentum so that the many benefits of Open Banking are developed, promoted, and made available to millions more of our citizens.”
A draft report created by open banking’s Strategic Working Group (SWG) intended to guide the decisions of JROC was seen exclusively by AltFi last month.
The report provided little clarity on the direction of open banking in the UK, with questions remaining both around a proposed ‘future entity’ to oversee open banking and a transition into “open finance”.
Hopefully the upward trajectory of open banking adoption will spur JROC to provide some “urgent clarity” on the future of open banking.
