Westpac has been actively engaged on the design of the system, and voluntarily shared some of the data via application programming interfaces (API) for the first time.
The pilot program will lay initial foundations to test the performance, reliability and security of the system before any personal consumer data is shared. It will also give software developers and fintechs a network of financial institution’s data to build and improve financial services.
Open Banking is intended to give customers more options to assess and manage their finances, while stimulating more innovation and competition across the banking sector. With more personalised services, consumers will have more ways to find, compare and choose products that are best suited to their individual needs.
At the end of 2018, the Federal Government announced a phased approach and timeline for the introduction of Open Banking, starting with the release of generic product data from 1 July 2019.
The Government’s timeline contemplates customers sharing their banking data with trusted third parties from February 2020.
As Open Banking’s rules and standards continue to be finalised by government and regulators, Westpac is working towards meeting the Government’s timeline in consultation with CSIRO Data61 and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
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