Open Banking: Will I Really Have Control Of My Data?

Hi Kenneth - Its great that you have an interest from a consumer angle. One of the things really lacking from this legislation is interest or feedback from consumers. Barclays have started some awarness campaigns but it needs more from industry if we are to see real adoption. The point about control is a good one and in theory you should be able to opt-in in your banking information for a range of relevant transactions i.e. its your choice. At the other end clearly service providers need to deliver some incentive to do so. The reason you won't be able to code your own APIs is one of security where only authorised and regulated entities are able to access your data on your behalf. I'm no techie but I understand there are some tight security controls in this process which won't include consumers being able to access their own data in this way. Strictly speaking you can as you say download transactions via your bank's web app into excel and do the analysis yourself. However unless you have the rules that the service providers use to analyse your spending / saving it will be difficult to replicate. There should be however someway to understand why certain decisions have been made on your behalf if your not happy with the outcome. Dave

Hi Dave. Thanks for the comments. Much appreciated.

There is a proposal mooted by the PSF for a centralised payments repository which might be the answer to your question in a few years time.. Its not in the current scope but I do think it can be easily extended provided security and consent rules are met