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I find this a little extreme. As a Nationwide customer of more than 20 years to access my account I need to verify my account number, name and date of birth. I then have to type in three random numbers from my six digit security code and they then send an SMS text to my mobile phone which I need to enter. For a fraudster to acquire all of the information needed to access my account they need access to five pieces of information - name, date of birth, account number, security code and my mobile telephone number. If I have been foolish enough to give away all of this information, then I must expect to be hacked.

The US banking market is fragmented - less so today than before, but still fragmented. Open banking is a neccessity to cary out many transactions . The UK and Europe have been light years ahead in allowing such things as variable amount bill payment to be charged to your account without intervention - it has been availbe for 50 years in the UK. It is for these reasons that Open Banking has not taken off so fast and may not reach the levels reached in the US.

Why are fintech people outraged at the comment 'Open Banking has failed'? It is true and a simple statement of fact.

Whilst the article is interesting, the actual number of people switching is very low. Showing a high percentage increase from a very low number is using statistics to try to prove a point. Any use of statistics over the last two years is bound to be skewed by the pandemic. What is far more important is which banks are losing customers and which are gaining.

I do not recognise the problem. All of my subscriptions are billed directly to my bank current account. When I want to cancel, I just inform my bank and they then refuse any further payment requests for payment from the seller. This has worked perfectly for the last 15 years. However, I do live in the UK, where variable amount direct debits have been around for 40 years or more.

Paying 20 times turnover for a company with no declared profits is remarkable. Well done Joe Mullen.

How does this differ from Variable Amount Direct Debits, which have been in existence for 40 years or more in the UK?

I stopped using my Visa credit card four years ago when I had three different transactions refused - one of which I was standing by the terminal. What was so upsetting is that they never gave a reason for any of the refusals, despite the amounts being well within my credit limit. I already had a Mastercard and I transferred my allegience. I have not had a single problem since, even when someone cloned my card - they were excellent at resolving the issue. So I, for one, will never use a Visa credit card again.

I could not agree more.

Excellent analysis. Not sure that software vendors in the UK have any more experience of renegotiating contracts than banks. They have rested on their laurels for decades.