In January 2023, more than 1 million residents in the UK used open banking services for the first time in their financial management practice.

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About 1.2 million new users during the last month increased the number of small and medium-sized business (SMBS) consumers using open banking in the UK. The total number of consumers of these services in the British financial market for the first time in history exceeded the landmark mark of 7 million. The relevant information is contained in a press release that was published on February 21 by Open Banking Limited (OBL).

OBL CEO Henk Van Halle stressed the particular importance of the fact that 1.2 million new consumers had never used open banking services before, including in the format of a single action, which did not become the beginning of a permanent user experience. He also noted that this type of service is a platform for UK citizens to improve their financial situation, regardless of what goals the users pursue.

Open banking became a regulatory requirement in the UK under the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) in 2017. This legislative act has given banks a mandate to transfer information about customer accounts to authorized non-bank third parties.

PSD2 required financial institutions to create application programming interfaces (APIs) for initiating payments and requesting account information.

Marion King, Chairman, and Trustee of OBL said that open banking contributes to increasing the level of competition and provides ordinary consumers and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBS) with access to innovative financial instruments.

The British banking sector is awaiting the next stage of open financing, as a result of which a new body will replace the implementing organization and will be responsible for a broader open banking ecosystem.

As we have reported earlier, UK to Roll Out More Shared Banking Hubs.