We’re seeing the UK’s Open Banking usage growing as customers seek greater clarity and more control over their finances. In what may have felt like an eternity, during the 18-month period since the first Covid-19 lockdown, we’ve seen our relationship with money shift and transform.  At Capita, we’re seeing that Open Banking is as a key enabler for this change and transformation, allowing consumers to stay more connected, more in control and have more freedom to bank the way they want to with ease and security.  

My team and I have been working closely with the retail banking sector to understand customer needs and potential gaps that cause friction or dissatisfaction.  The team has engineered a flexible solution to streamline the current account validation process using open banking APIs and third party integration, with a clear roadmap of how we can develop this further to customer journeys when it come to processes that require income verification and KYC –  for example, collections or mortgage applications.  

Taking all this into account, we’ve developed and built our next-generation Open Banking solution so that it provides instant real-time verification, allowing organisations to speed up processing times and limit handoffs back to the customer. For example, in the home buying journey, this means offering the convenience of not having to locate bank statements or visit a branch in person. It will also form part of future enhancements to reduce the likelihood of additional requests for information to support the affordability assessment, which can otherwise further delay the process.

I absolutely see Open Banking as a key enabler in streamlining the journey for our clients, consumers and colleagues, whether this is for mortgages, collections, payments or other related services.  However, the challenge remains in how we explain this to, and persuade, consumers.  Those working in retail banking have a collective responsibility to ensure customers are informed, understand and trust technological advancements:  we need to convince them that these new technologies not only facilitate speed, convenience and ease, but also offer the reassurance of enhanced security. And, of course, for our retail banking partners, this means that our team at Capita needs to offer the most innovative, robust technology, introducing forward-looking, expert providers who understand the  importance of  making open banking readily accessible and secure for consumers. 

This is an area I’m passionate about and I’m encouraging my team to further develop our Open Banking capabilities. This includes working in partnership with lenders, regulators and other technology companies to maximise the benefits of Open Banking and how we integrate this into an improved customer journey. By doing this, I believe we will ultimately help to drive adoption and maximise the benefits for us all. 

We’re really looking forward to lining up our first client in the coming months and keen to test this across various scenarios, so any interested parties please do reach out. 

Peter O’Connor is managing director of Capita Mortgage Software Solutions