The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that Danske Bank, Bank of Ireland, and Allied Irish Bank have completed the Roadmap for Open Banking.

They are the last of the UK's nine largest banks and building societies (the CMA9) to complete the regulator’s mandated roadmap, with each of the organisations now providing the required functionality to offer a full suite of Open Banking payment and account information services, including variable recurring payments (VRP) for sweeping.

They join Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander UK, which had all completed the Roadmap by October 2023.

Implementation entity Open Banking Limited (OBL), which developed the UK's Open Banking standard and industry guidelines, said that the ability for all nine banks to deliver VRP for sweeping functionality "opens significant opportunities" for FinTechs to collaborate with them, introducing "new and innovative" financial services to their customers.

Dan Turnbull, senior director of the CMA, described the update as an "important milestone".

"The completion of the Roadmap cements the move to the future of Open Banking, one that can expand the benefits of Open Banking beyond the scope of the CMA’s Order," he said.

The move comes after OBL announced in July that 10 million consumers and small businesses are now using Open Banking technology.

The implementation agency estimates that the Open Banking ecosystem is already worth over £4 billion to the UK economy, which it says has attracted investment and facilitated the creation of almost 5000 skilled digital jobs across the country.

Speaking about the completion of the Roadmap, Henk Van Hulle, chief executive of OBL, said: “The rollout of sweeping functionality across all the CMA9 is a crucial step in extending the benefits of Open Banking to a broader range of customers. As we look ahead, the next exciting chapter will involve exploring the potential of commercial VRPs, which have the capacity to revolutionise the way businesses manage payments."

The news comes as the government prepares to introduce the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill. The legislation is expected to build on the achievements of Open Banking and support the benefits of data sharing to smart data schemes in key economic sectors, including energy, telecoms, transport and retail.

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