Today marks the fourth year anniversary of the launch of PSD2, which made Open Banking a regulatory requirement in the UK.

According to the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) there are now 4.5 million regular users of Open Banking, of which 3.9 million are consumers and 600,000 small businesses.

This represents a 60 per cent increase in new customers over the past 12 months, up from 2.8 million in December 2020.

“Four years ago, we ordered banks to give people control of their own data, helping transform the industry, drive innovation and stimulate competition,” said Andrea Coscelli, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) chief executive “This has led to two million more people signing up for open banking in the last year. We are working closely with OBIE to strengthen governance, and to ensure that even more users make the most of the potential of open banking in 2022 and beyond.”

The milestone comes a week after 53 FinTechs signed a letter challenging a recent claim by Starling Bank’s Anne Boden that Open Banking has “not been a success”.

OBIE said that by the end of 2021, there were more than 26.6 million Open Banking payments, an hike of more than 500 per cent in a year.

“The progress made by the entire industry during the past four years to make open banking in the UK a success has been astounding,” said Charlotte Crosswell, chair and trustee, OBIE. “I’m proud of the contribution that the OBIE has made, enabling and supporting ground-breaking financial innovation and collaboration across the sector.

“This wouldn’t have happened without a strong regulatory framework and forward-thinking policy makers to support our work. We have set a high standard in the UK, inspiring many other markets to follow our lead.”

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