Open Banking

In 2017, the introduction of Open Banking changed the way financial services are provided. The UK was one of the first countries to adopt Open Banking, and customers could then instruct their banks to share the data needed to provide more services.

Before 2017, if you wanted a service your bank didn’t offer, your only option was to change bank to one that did. People stayed with their banks and made do. New services weren’t developed independently, because only the banks could offer them.

Open Banking has changed this. Now, if a company develops a new service, like Family Connect, customers can use the new service alongside their existing bank, because their bank has to share the data their customers want them to share, to provide the service they want.

To share data with banks, you have to be regulated.

Of course, banks don’t share customer data with just anyone. To be an Open Banking service provider like Hope Macy, you have to be an Authorised Payments Institution (API). This means being regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

What does it take to become an Authorised Payments Institution (API)?

An API is a regulated company that has been permitted to access bank account information. To qualify you have to complete a thorough process, including showing you have the security in place to manage customer data. Once regulated by the FCA, firms have to maintain high standards of operation and submit regular reports.

We can’t stop payments from the bank account of the person you are caring for. But we are permitted, as an authorised firm and with a customer’s consent, to use their bank data to provide a specific service like Family Connect.

Hope Macy is a registered API. Our FCA registration numbers are 934392 & 962292, you can look us up on the FCA website. You can also find us in the Open Banking service provider directory.

It’s through Open Banking that the Family Connect service allows you to share the account information you need to support your family to manage their money. It’s a simple but effective tool to help you keep a watch on how your family members use their accounts, without getting in the way of their independence.