The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has reprimanded five banks for dragging their heels over the delivery of Open Banking functionality within their mobile apps.
The watchdog has issued Directions to five of the nine big banks mandated to open up their data to third party vendors.
The five banks - Bank of Ireland, Danske, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and Santander - were found to be mainly in breach of deadlines for app-to-app redirection functionality, forcing users to rely on desktop-only data sharing.
The enforcement Directions specify actions that the banks concerned must take, including the employment of external professional consultants to validate their plans and monitor their progress.
Commenting on the CMA Directions, Trustee of the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE), Imran Gulamhuseinwala, says: “While we are aware that the Open Banking programme has ambitious and challenging timescales, it is disappointing that some banks have needed more time to deliver some important new Open Banking functionality to their customers."
Commenting on the news, Samantha Seaton, CEO, Moneyhub says the failure of banks to meet their obligations is stunting the transformative potential of Open Banking.
"While there is huge appetite among the fintech community to transform and revitalise the user experience, some high street banks are dragging their heels and holding back progress," she says. “Nearly every bank now sees the greatest engagement with customers through mobile banking apps that gives immediate access to data and the ability to transfer money, even set up new payments with just a thumb print to confirm approval. It is therefore disappointing that many banks have been slow to support 'app-to-app' consent for third parties. In fact, some have instead opted to provide support only with their desktop based online portals in the first instance."