Exclusive: HSBC to tap Open Banking potential through new partnership

The deal will allow HSBC to access transaction data on consumers held by other banks and building societies.

HSBC UK is set to capitalise on the opportunities presented by Open Banking after agreeing to a partnership with consents.online, an Account Information Service Provider (AISP).

Under the deal, HSBC can access consumer transaction data held by other organisations. The bank plans to use this information to launch new consumer products.

It will also use consents.online's consent management architecture, which allows consumers to view and control how their data is used. The platform gives consumers and small businesses the ability to see who is accessing their data and to control access – with the power to revoke it at any time.

At the time of its launch, consents.online claims its partnership with HSBC was the first operational use-case for Open Banking by a tier 1 bank.

It is part of a broader Open Banking push by the bank, which launched its Connected Money app earlier this month, allowing customers to see account information from all of their providers in one place.

Designed to boost competition and innovation in retail financial services, Open Banking gives consumers the ability to share their financial data with FCA-authorised third parties. That data has traditionally been the preserve of banks and building societies.

The scheme launched earlier this year, but a number of banks were granted extensions on the official deadline to begin allowing third-parties access to their data, as they scrambled to prepare. The ‘CMA9’ is the name given to the group of banks that are required to share data under Open Banking rules. They are: AIB Group (UK) plc trading as First Trust Bank in Northern Ireland, Bank of Ireland (UK) plc, Barclays Bank plc, HSBC Group, Lloyds Banking Group plc, Nationwide Building Society, Northern Bank Limited, trading as Danske Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, Santander UK plc (in Great Britain and Northern Ireland).

Emma Steeley, commercial director at Consents Online Ltd, said: “Our B2B clients of different sizes, sectors and countries have demonstrated the power of transaction data to revolutionise customer insights. We are delighted to be helping HSBC UK with this journey.”

Consents.online is a subsidiary of Account Score Holdings Ltd, the parent company of a group of businesses involved in bank transaction analytics.

Another early-mover AISP in the Open Banking race is Credit Kudos, a challenger bureau which last week announced that it had forged connections with all of the UK’s largest banks to help smooth credit applications through data sharing.