Open Banking is a regulatory initiative that forces UK banks to create open interfaces into previously-locked customer accounts and payment systems. The objective is to simplify how financial information is retrieved, shared and presented. Across multiple banks and bank accounts, consumers and businesses are now able to consolidate, view, and access their banking information, and securely initiate payments from a single interface or authorised Third Party Provider (TPP).

It means that all UK-regulated banks have to allow you to share financial data electronically and securely through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) - as long as you give permission. It opens the way to new products and services that could help both you and your customers get a better deal and give you a more detailed understanding of your accounts.

68% of companies are multi-banked and could take advantage of Open Banking

Following a slow start as the industry found its feet, Open Banking Payment Initiation Services (PIS) and Open Banking Account Information Services (AIS) are gathering momentum, allowing payment initiation providers (PISP) to provide businesses customers a new way to pay to increase conversion at the checkout and help them save up to 50% on card fees.

Synonymous to Open Banking, PSD2 (the revised Payment Services Directive) is a similar regulation that is being introduced and legislated in Europe.

Source: Bottomline Open Banking Webinar

When did Open Banking start?

The Open Banking initiative came into effect on 13th January 2018. It is overseen by the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE), governed by the Competitions and Market Authority (CMA), and is funded by the UK’s nine largest banks and building societies.

Why has Open Banking come about?

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) acknowledged that it was incredibly difficult for new banks and financial technology providers to gain access to the market and compete with larger, incumbent banks.

What general impact does Open Banking have?

The Open Banking payment initiative will stimulate greater innovation in the financial services sector and open up competition in the banking industry. It will bring change, opportunity and opens a whole new world of monetary management possibilities for those wishing to take advantage of it; specifically, new entrants to the market will be able to access the same data and services as traditional banks.

How will Open Banking affect me?

Impact on banks: It means that customer data is no longer ‘owned’ by any financial institution, but by the customer, and customers are no longer tied to the packages and services offered by a single bank or provider.

Competition will now increase and services and products that you offer must be attractive to win market share.

Impact on providers: As an authorised TPP (third party provider), you will be able to offer innovative new solutions, to improve your competitive advantage, and drive new revenue streams. Specifically, you will be able to tailor offerings to the consumer or business’ circumstances and financial standing.

Impact on customers: Open Banking consolidates how your bank account information is accessed and managed, and how you make payments. You will also have access to a greater choice of services.

In practice, you will be able to have your current account with one provider, and a loan, mortgage, insurance policy, or investment policy from various other suppliers and be able to manage them from one user interface made available by an authorised provider of choice.

What do I need to do to prepare for Open Banking?

Banks: Every bank is mandated to create open and secure APIs (application programming interfaces) in order that customer data can be shared with authorised third-party applications in a secure, common and consistent format. This deadline was January 2018, although 5 of the 9 traditional banks were given an extension for such compliance.

Providers: There is no compliance deadline for providers, but any institution or business that wants to access accounts must be approved, registered and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a Third-Party Provider (TPP).

 

 

Customers: There are no compliance requirements from a customer perspective, but you do need to give permission for your data to be shared by a bank. At present, this only applies to current account data:

Basic account information, such as name, number, sort code and account balance

Regularly-scheduled payments, including: Direct Debits and standing orders

Incoming and outgoing transactions

Account benefits, fees, services and interest

Bottomline is deploying the latest Open Banking capabilities to help transform our customer’s operations and offerings.  Areas of modernization include real time reconciliation of FX trades, real time funding of accounts, reduced data costs from SWIFT charges, speedier AML processes by using pre-approved bank data, a better integrated customer journey and the opening up a new channel of payment for the customers. The service is 24x7 and supported by our award-winning operations team in the UK. All solutions are achieved via a bundle of Open Banking ‘read’ (AISP) and ‘write’ (PISP) APIs that Bottomline deliver via our accreditation as a Third Party Provide (TPP).

Bottomline’s Financial Messaging (FM) solutions are recognised and trusted by 600+ customers in 92 countries, across 6 continents for SaaS-enabled payments, securities, connectivity and messaging with a track record of success. FM connectivity solutions leverage multiple domestic & cross-border payment networks and schemes, including SWIFT, UK Faster Payments, RT1, TIPS, Bacs, Six, EBICS, Visa and others to enable our clients to deliver added value to their customers.  

As one of the top SWIFT service bureaus globally, we serve 450+ customers, managing 15% of all international cross border traffic. Our global experience and expertise for financial messaging and ISO 20022 implementation includes message translation, validation, transformation, Intelligent routing, orchestration and integration.  

Customers trust us with the processing of payment instructions for many millions of pounds, dollars, Euros and other currencies daily through our Managed Services. Overall, our solutions allow financial institutions and corporations to achieve lower costs, enjoy high visibility on their payment flows, greater security and improved risk management, while avoiding the costly internal infrastructure and software updates for legacy on-premise solutions. 

Connect, Comply, Compete 

Bottomline delivers a single SaaS platform for payments, securities and messaging that helps financial institutions and corporates to achieve lower costs, wider reach through open banking, speed-to-market, greater security and improved risk management.  

Payment & Cash Aggregator • Financial Messaging & Connectivity • Securities Aggregator • Fraud & Financial Crime Management • Data, Insight & Analytics 

Open Banking as a Service (OBaaS) 

What is Bottomline’s position?

Bottomline is a trusted, secure transaction processor that offers interoperability between open banking, SWIFT and many more networks.  These are typically via APIs that can be easily integrated into our existing customer arrangements, tailored for new customers or indeed is agnostic as a wrap-around for other 3rd party infrastructures. All solutions are achieved via a bundle of existing Open Banking ‘read’ and ‘write’ APIs and a deep knowledge of the financial services landscape.

Why? The Change in the World

Digitalization and the world of APIs has accelerated through both the pandemic and the various open banking initiatives globally, already live or in implementation mode in more than 40 different countries. Whether open banking is mandated or left to market forces across nation states, every player needs a simple, smart and secure way of connecting into the ecosystem. To compete in a digital world, one has to understand the industry problems that need solving, become world class at API connectivity for real-time payments and data and then work out how to apply the new capabilities under a modernization framework.

What problems are we solving?

Open Banking is spreading globally with regulation and mandates driving innovation. The historic batch-led processes, paper-based checks and multi-day onboarding workflows are becoming uncompetitive and the associated payment revenues are under threat.

Example 1: Savings Banks

Needs and pain points

Application drop-outs which costs money

Broken Customer experience when funding is done via another Bank sign-in

No real-time funding offered at application

No visibility on other Banking relationships to sell against

 

What is the solution?

Use Open Banking APIs for REAL-TIME data and REAL-TIME payments, for instance, Bottomline enables the customer to load accounts inside the same onboarding bank session, enabling real-time payments at application and provides visibility on other Banking relationships your new customer holds all of which reduce application drop-outs and the associated costs. The service is 24x7 and supported by our award-winning operations team in the UK.

Example 2: FX Providers  

Reconciling FX trades to the funding payment

No real time funding of their accounts

High cost of SWIFT for statements and credit advices

AML processes are slow and can lead to drop out

Credit cards too expensive to accept on accounts and hole chargeback risks.

 

What is the solution?

Bottomline enables real time reconciliation of FX trades, real time funding of accounts, reduced data costs from SWIFT charges, speedier AML processes by using pre-approved bank data and opens up a new channel of payment for the customers. The service is 24x7 and supported by our award-winning operations team in the UK.

How?

Benefits of Bottomline’s Open Banking as a Service Solutions

“The READ story” (aka AISP)

Display all transactions for reconciliation

Receive all transactions to help underwriting

Access all a/c detail to speed-up application, reduce drop- outs

Share contact details between Banks/applications

Sync all beneficiaries, payments (eg S/Orders, DDs, etc.)

Provide enduring consents

 

“The WRITE story” (aka PISP)

Enable A/C to A/C payments (e.g. real-time funding) & AP from UK A/C Business acct to pay suppliers

Action refunds

Leverage Enable POS Payments via API only – no UX

Provide enduring consents

Set up/amend/cancel S/Orders, scheduled payments, international payments, etc.

 

Why Bottomline?

  1. INTEROPERABILITY. 
    Bottomline is a leader in the integration of customers into the world of SWIFT / Open Banking / VISA / Tips /RT1/SEPA Inst / FPS and many other schemes.  This gives you maximum choice and functionality for your customers.
  2. REAL TIME EXPERTISE.
    We have deep expertise and understanding of the real-time space for payments, which is the payment rail of choice for all open banking traffic. We operate an award winning 24x7 service to support you and make sure that the ‘always on’ service is a reality for your customers, alongside a fraud and security portfolio of solutions so your operations are fully protected.
  3. UK LEADERSHIP.
    We have a strong UK base where OB started life, with an intimate knowledge of the key bodies and projects in the industry.  We provide customers the expertise, experience and roadmap innovation to bring the art of the possible into your own future planning.

In the News and Resources

Open Banking


Finance magnates open banking ITN thumbnail

Open banking year six: JROC’s priorities and the UK’s future roadmap

Bottomline, Truelayer, Barclays UK and NatWest give their view on the future of Open Banking. 

Read Article

Who's, Who in Open Banking 2021

To help financial institutions and businesses from all over the world find the right Open Banking and innovation partner to create more tailored offers and propositions, and to overcome the challenges in Open Banking, The Paypers has created an exhaustive outlay of the global Open Banking ecosystem in the guise of a thorough infographic and industry mapping of key solution providers in Open Banking and their core offerings and solutions.

View Infographic

Open banking in page
Open banking model in page

Bringing a Service Model to Open Banking

Open Banking Expo caught up with Bottomline’s General Manager & Director, Payments, Ed Adshead-Grant ahead of Open Banking Expo on 4th November.

Read Article

Global Payments and Banking Benchmarking Report

OBP Report

How important is the use of Open Banking in your customer propositions over the next 12 months?

It is clear from the fact that 22% have stated that they are fully operational that we are now successfully passing through the early adopter phase and we are moving into more mainstream planning and embedding into the customer journey. It is wonderful to see 31% have open banking on their wish list. However, the 16% who have said they need more information need better support as it isn’t fair to expect the market to educate itself. The uses of 'powered by Open Banking' are very wide with an abundance of use cases available, although many still haven’t been properly explored in the world of real time instructions (PISP) and real time data pulls (AISP)

"Globally, open banking has reached a tipping point. Clearly, there are many organisations forging ahead with open banking in customer propositions. The findings indicate that the industry is going in the right direction and momentum is building. Among those respondents that indicated it is either ‘on the wish list’ or they need to know more, the onus is on the industry to pull together to inform, educate and provide use cases. It is exciting to see the pace at which open banking is being adopted and, here at Open Banking Expo, we think it bodes well for open finance in the future."
- Ellie Duncan, Head of Content, Open Banking Expo

Read Full Report

 

Learn More

Related Events


Open Banking Expo - 4th November

Don't Miss our Expert Speakers on The Payments Stage!

2:00 - 2:45 PM Open Banking - Cash is King, but connectivity is Queen

How quickly will open banking be adopted?

What are the key challenges in the payments space and how will this impact innovation?

What do customers care about?

What are the opportunities for those that embrace Open Banking?

 

4:30 - 5:10 PM PANEL DEBATE - Piecing Together the Open Banking puzzle for corporates

Looking beyond the consumer benefits of Open Banking to what the increasing speed of innovation means for corporates.

Ed Adshead-Grant, General Manager & Director, Payments - Bottomline

Gaby Sulbaran, Head of Platforms Partnerships - SWIFT

Ian McDougall, Chief Commercial Officer – Yapily

Michael Green, Director Financial Partnerships - Xero

Moderator: Teresa Connors, Head of Bank Propositions – Bottomline

 

Take Full Advantage of the Open Banking Opportunity - Book a Strategy Meeting Today

How can Bottomline help you take advantage of the Open Banking payment initiative?

As a market leader in business payment solutions, Bottomline can offer the appropriate products, technology and industry guidance to banks, third-party providers and businesses wishing to take advantage of the Open Banking initiative

Payment Initiation Services (PIS) are provided by Bottomline Payment Services, who are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations for the provision of payment services with FCA registration number 616279.

Our view

Bottomline believes that Open Banking is a game-changer. The playing field between traditional financial service firms, smaller fintechs and challenger banks will level out. Whilst we can expect to see an influx of innovative and competitive products disrupting existing market share, it is more likely that we’ll see competition evolve into collaboration.

Without doubt, Open Banking is a catalyst for innovation, although there is still much to be done in educating financial decision-makers on the risks and opportunities as new payment technologies emerge. The initiative is also fertile ground for fraudsters, so we expect that the issue of secure customer authentication needs tightening before both PSD2 and Open Banking can reach its full potential.

It is anticipated that Open Banking will impact other industry initiatives including:

Faster Payments: making it easier to use multi-banking

GDPR: conflicting stances on the use of personal data

New Payment Architecture: a new, single, integrated retail payment system operator for the UK

Request to pay: opens the potential for e-invoicing within payment system 

Enhanced Data: additional data to be contained within payment transactions and more...

Unquestionably, Open Banking provides an opportunity for quicker responses on design, and the delivery of new standards and data streams. However, its success may hinge on consumers' willingness to trust and embrace it.

Learn more about Pay Direct and the Open Banking payments service:


Bottomline boosts the way businesses collect cash with Pay Direct

Bottomline has announced the launch of Pay Direct. This new Open Banking payment initiation service (PIS) gives companies a more efficient and cost-effective way to receive online payment from customers by enabling online businesses to receive funds directly from the payer’s bank account via Faster Payments.

View Press Release

How can Open Banking make payments faster and easier?

73% of us regularly interact with our banks online and via our mobile devices, watch this short video to find out how Pay Direct can support your open banking requirements.

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video time: 01:26 video title: PTX Pay Direct the new way for customers to pay

How the Payments landscape is changing for the businesses in light of Open Banking and Request to Pay

In this episode on the Payments Podcast we talk about the benefits and changes both ‘Request to Pay’ and ‘payment direct from bank account’ will have on the landscape.

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video time: 17:00 video title: How Open Banking and Request to Pay is Changing the Payments Landscape

Open Banking: Changing the Way Businesses Pay and Get Paid

This white paper on Open Banking offers practical advice on the scope of the evolving payments landscape, focused specifically on Open Banking and PSD2.

Open Banking: Changing the Way Businesses Pay and Get Paid

Download White paper

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