“Sam Bedford, head of CYBG’s accelerator says: “This partnership is a great example of our ability to work at pace to develop new digital experiences for customers which go beyond banking. Having been early adopters of Open Banking, our new partnership with GoCompare has launched the first energy comparison and switching service for bank customers in the UK. With just a few clicks, customers have the potential to save hundreds of pounds on average by switching energy provider without leaving their B mobile app.””

“According to the fourth Access and Governance report by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), this improving access paves the way for new banks and payment companies to compete with established banks. A record number of new direct participants was recorded in 2018, with 12 organisations joining Faster Payment Scheme (FPS), Bacs and CHAPS. The first non-bank payment service providers (PSPs) joined these systems and there are now more indirect access providers (IAPs) in the market than ever before.”

“While the industry transformation has the potential to completely alter how consumers and businesses interact with financial services, Mastercard’s new suite of services will deliver practical answers to the real challenges that risk inhibiting open banking from realising its full potential.

• They will incorporate a pan-European directory of third party providers to help banks to ensure that parties seeking access to a customer’s account are legitimate.
• The new services will also include a sophisticated fraud monitoring service (based on Mastercard’s extensive safety and security solutions), which will enable banks to better assess the risk associated with a given third party.
• They will also provide a dedicated dispute resolution mechanism, spanning both a clear set of rules and a communications platform and leveraging our extensive expertise of handling disputes in today’s payment card industry.
• Finally, they will also feature a connectivity hub that will help third parties establish and maintain communication with banks.”

“Canadians deserve a financial sector that is globally competitive and promotes consumer choice, while also delivering financial stability and economic growth. They must also have confidence that it operates with the highest regard for privacy and security. To this end, the Department of Finance Canada today released a consultation paper on the merits of open banking. The release of the paper and the launch of public consultations marks the next step in the Government’s review of open banking, following the appointment of the Advisory Committee on Open Banking in September 2018.”

“New York’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) is suing the federal government to stop its decision to award national bank charters to fintech firms, saying it was unconstitutional and put vulnerable consumers at risk. According to Reuters, Maria Vullo, superintendent of DFS, called the July 31 decision by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) “lawless, ill-conceived, and destabilising of financial markets”.”

“The OCC’s decision, when considered with its historical approach to preemption under the National Bank Act, could expand the scope of federal banking regulation considerably and provide substantial opportunities. These opportunities could benefit not merely Fintech firms but investors in many such firms, who would appear to be able to control certain SPNBs and still avoid regulation under the Bank Holding Company Act (BHC Act), including the Volcker Rule.”