JROC reveals progress made on Open Banking in the UK since April

The Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee (JROC) has provided an update on the actions set out in April 2023, to enable the next phase of Open Banking in the UK and set out the next steps for the “future state” of the UK’s Open Banking regime.

In its update published yesterday (18 December), JROC revealed it has “made progress on various workstreams since publishing the Report in April 2023”.

The report included a roadmap of 29 actions to be delivered over the next two years, covering five key themes.

JROC stated that while it is “encouraging to see momentum on Open Banking being sustained and actions being progressed at pace”, it also acknowledged the work still to be done to realise its vision for Open Banking.

In Workstream 1, which is focused on “levelling up availability and performance”, a data collection framework, which will collect and analyse API performance and availability data, has been designed and approved by the Committee and Open Banking Limited (OBL) is now making arrangements for the data collection.

JROC confirmed that data collection commenced in the fourth quarter of 2023, with data being collected from ASPSPs and TPPs on a voluntary basis, and will be fed into “future policy considerations”.

Elsewhere, there has been progress in “Workstream 3: Ensuring effective consumer protection if something goes wrong”, with OBL having submitted to JROC a report that highlights six gaps in dispute processes, including between ASPSPs and TPPs, and consumer protection, alongside some potential solutions to address the gaps.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) are considering the findings of this report, along with the related work on consumer protection and dispute resolution in the VRP Working Group.

In Workstream 4, which is looking at “Improving information flows to TPPs and end users”, there has also been progress since April, with OBL and Pay.UK having submitted to JROC a report on gaps in payment statuses and error messaging between ASPSPs and TPPs.

Among OBL and Pay.UK’s recommendations are that the Open Banking standard be updated to improve information on payment statuses and to improve handling of error messages, as well as for payment systems to be updated to improve mapping of Open Banking messages.

Both organisations are now working to implement these recommendations.

When it comes to progress around a Future Entity, JROC reported that the Future Entity Working Group submitted its final report at the end of November 2023.

JROC is now in the process of considering the recommendations within the report on the governance, legal structure, funding, and capabilities of the future entity, and is expected to make a decision on its recommended structure, governance and funding model early next year.

The Committee has promised to publish this decision and the immediate steps which will be taken to establish the future entity in the first quarter of 2024.

JROC co-chairs, the PSR’s managing director, Chris Hemsley, and executive director, consumers and competition at the FCA, Sheldon Mills, said: “It’s really encouraging to see such strong growth of Open Banking in the UK and how much progress has been made since April.

“The whole Open Banking ecosystem has worked collaboratively to deliver this progress.”

Hemsley and Mills added: “We now expect to see consumers and businesses starting to benefit from new and innovative ways of managing and making payments on a wider scale.”

Henk Van Hulle, chief executive officer of Open Banking Limited, said: “The update from the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee is critical to the future of Open Banking and realising its full potential. We hope to see this continue as Open Banking leads the charge in the evolution of payment and data-sharing solutions for the public good.

“The sector remains committed to fostering innovation and shaping a responsive, secure, and customer-centric ecosystem.”

He added: “Open Banking Limited is focused on supporting the government and regulators to meet their aims of boosting customer protection; streamlining person-to-person payments; and providing more choice as we pave the way for a more efficient and inclusive financial future.”