Open Banking

What is Open Banking?

Open Banking is designed to enhance everyone’s banking experience and let you manage your accounts in a way that is better suited to your needs. With Open Banking you can provide banks and other online providers with secure access to your account(s) so you can see your current accounts from multiple banks in one secure place. This means you won’t need to log in to lots of different apps.

Open Banking is not obligatory. Those who want to take advantage can, but it will not be forced upon anyone. However, customers can only benefit from Open Banking if they have Digital Banking. 

Why is it happening?

Open Banking is designed to increase competition in the banking industry and was introduced by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), a non-ministerial government department responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing anti-competitive activities.

Open Banking FAQs

As Open Banking is a new concept, we are sure you’ll have lots of questions, so we’ve listed the main ones below. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, there are more on the official Open Banking website here. 

Am I automatically opted in to Open Banking?

No. You’ll only use Open Banking if you give permission to a regulated app or website. It’s always your choice – you need to give your explicit consent.

How do I sign-up for Open Banking?

To sign up for Open Banking you will need to give initial consent using a third party site. You can then select which Third Party you wish to give consent to. You will need to provide separate consents for every third party you use. These consents will expire after 90 days and you will need to renew these, if you wish consents to continue beyond this time.

In Open Banking what is a Third Party Provider?

A Third Party Provider could be any company that wants to offer you a service, and therefore needs your transaction history to do so. Third Party Providers are approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) before they can take part in Open Banking.

All approved Third Parties will appear on the Open Banking Regulated Providers Register. 

I don’t want to use Open Banking.

That’s fine; you do not need to do anything. Without your explicit consent, third parties will not be able to access any of your account information.

How do I stop using Open Banking?

If you have given consent to third parties then you will be required to withdraw these consents, otherwise we will continue to provide information to these third parties in line with your consent until such times as it expires after 90 days.

What types of account can be used for Open Banking?

You can use Open Banking for payment accounts that you access online or by mobile, such as personal and business current accounts.

Can I use Open Banking if I don’t use online banking?

No. To use Open Banking you need online or mobile banking for your personal or business current account.

What regulations do providers have to meet?

To use Open Banking, providers have to comply with the strict rules of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or a European equivalent.

You can find out more and check if an app or website is regulated on the FCA register or European equivalent. 

How do I know Open Banking is safe?

Open Banking has been designed with security at its heart – here's how:

  • Bank-level security – Open Banking uses rigorously tested software and security systems. You’ll never be asked to give access to your bank login details or password to anyone other than your own bank or building society.
  • It's regulated – only apps and websites regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (or European equivalents) can use Open Banking.
  • You're in charge – you choose when, and for how long, you give access to your data.
  • Extra protection – your bank or building society will pay your money back if fraudulent payments are made, as long as you haven’t been grossly negligent. You're also protected by data protection laws and the Financial Ombudsman Service

Important information

The Open Banking initiative is a secure way to give Third Party Payment Providers (TPPs) authorised access to your accounts and financial information.

The language, terminology, documents and processes used or required by the Open Banking initiative - for example in Technical Specifications and Standards, which all participants in the initiative (including Al Rayan Bank) have to adopt and apply - are designed for the entire banking sector, which is very largely conventional. Therefore, although the headline objectives of Open Banking (to provide consumers with greater access to authorised products and services) are broadly Sharia compliant, the workings of the initiative do not expressly accommodate the operations of Islamic banks or factor in Sharia compliance.

Al Rayan Bank’s products, documents and workings are Sharia compliant. Unfortunately, we cannot control or influence directly the Sharia compliance of any TPPs or the other participants in the Open Banking initiative. However, what we have done is to make clear in any Open Banking documents we are required to adopt and apply (e.g. the Technical Specifications and Standards we are required to make available on our website to TPPs) what the Sharia compliant equivalent is of any non-Sharia compliant language or terminology in those documents.

Disclaimer - Open Banking is a secure way to give Third Party Providers (TPP) access to your financial information. It provides consumers with greater access to products and services from providers which are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and European equivalents.

The terminologies used within Open Banking Technical Specifications and Standards have been created for the conventional banking sector and do not necessarily factor into the operations of Islamic banks.

Whilst Al Rayan Bank has addressed the use of such terminologies and other aspects related to Open Banking to be in accordance with its requirements and products as a Sharia compliant bank, it cannot control the output of the information presented by each Third Party Provider (TPP). Therefore, we have made it clear within the Technical Specifications, where relevant, what each terminology means in relation to Al Rayan Bank and those key conventional terminologies and financial practices that are not compatible with how Al Rayan Bank operates in the context of a Sharia compliant bank.

  • Lending/Lend (Financing/ Finance)
  • Interest (Profit or Rent subject to context and product)
  • Mortgage (HPPs, Assets financing)
  • Borrowing/Borrow (Obtaining finance)
  • Borrower (Customer)
  • Interest Charge (Al Rayan Bank does not pay interest or charge any interest)
  • Rate/Interest Rate (Subject to context and product expected profit rate or rental rate)

Open Banking for developers

Help create new banking possibilities for our customers.

We want to make sure third-party developers can easily register their applications with us and access the standardised industry-wide Open Banking APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).

What to do before you register

Make sure you first register with the FCA or National Competent Authority of your host country and enroll with the Open Banking Directory. We can’t register an unenrolled organisation.

Getting started is easy

If you would like to register to get access to our API store, please register at our developer gateway.

Once registered and accepted, you’ll be able to use our regulated Open Banking APIs in our sandbox environment. For production access, you will need to register in order to access those APIs.

API Summary

Account Information API Technical Specification

Payments API Technical Specification

Confirmation of funds

Preview Man putting card details into his phone

The new way to manage your accounts online

Register for Digital Banking and manage your account on the move through our Mobile Banking app, or from the comfort of your own home through the Desktop Portal.

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