Oversight entity Open Banking Limited (OBL) has announced that UK use of Open Banking powered services by consumers and SMEs reached seven million for the first time in January.

The milestone follows the recent completion by the six largest UK lenders - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide, and NatWest – of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) regulatory standards for the rollout of Open Banking.

Launched in 2017, the CMA’s standards ordered the nine largest retail banking providers in the UK to open up customer data using secure data protocols.

The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) has since been established and developed the UK's Open Banking industry guidelines to drive “competition, innovation and transparency in UK retail banking”.

Those who have not met the outlined standards - Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland and Danske Bank – have since been ordered to do so “as soon as feasible”.

The path for Open Banking is set to become even clearer once the Financial Conduct Authority and the Payment System Regulator provide key recommendation for the future of Open Banking based on a recently published report.

Marion King, chair of OBL commented: “As we await key recommendations on the future vision for Open Banking from the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee, 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.”

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