Open Banking – one year on…

A recent survey from Censuswide has revealed that, a year after its launch in the UK, consumers are still unaware of what Open Banking is - two-thirds of the 2,000 British consumers surveyed said they have never heard of Open Banking, while 20% had heard of it but could not explain it.

A lack of education around the initiative, coupled with consumer concerns around privacy and data security, mean it is no surprise less than 8% of respondents think Open Banking is a good idea.  However, it is worth noting that concerns vary depending on the age group in question. Interestingly, while younger participants (millennials and younger) were far more likely to think of Open Banking positively compared to more senior respondents, they were also able to identify more potential privacy and fraud threats in relation to the new concept.

Despite the degree of wariness among consumers, the research also showed that two-thirds of respondents were very interested in mobile and digital banking features directly associated with Open Banking, such as convenient money transfer and the management and aggregation of all accounts.