Soundbite: Treasury comment on Open Banking for SME’s

A report from the House of Commons Treasury Committee released today explained how hopes were still high for Open Banking adoption within the SME finance space, but urges more ambition.

Open Banking has the potential to bring significant benefits for SMEs seeking finance. Its impact on the market to date, however, has been muted. As an initiative based fundamentally on the sharing of private financial information with third parties, its success will depend heavily on the willingness of consumers and SMEs to trust those firms. Perhaps understandably, given the frequency of high-profile IT failures and data breaches, that trust appears to be seriously lacking.

The Treasury told the Committee that it expected the impact of Open Banking to be slow to materialise, but the Committee urges it to take a more ambitious stance. Working with the Competition and Markets Authority, the Treasury should provide an assessment of the initiative’s effect on the market to date. The authorities should also set clear and challenging milestones for the industry in relation to the timely development of Open Banking services, and deliver a comprehensive strategy for combatting the clear public trust issues that threaten to undermine the initiative.

Source: House of Commons Treasury Committee SME Finance Report