It’s two months since Open Banking began its official soft launch. As we outlined back in January, The Open Banking Entity has asked that we roll out Open Banking gradually, following a series of testing phases.

Phase one’s done and dusted!

In that time, we’ve powered through phase one. We’ve been working hard behind the scenes, ironing out any bugs and ticks with lots of functional tests. Basically, that’s looking for any pain-points in the technology and perfecting them before they go live to the wider community. That’s phase one:

With these functional tests under our belt, we began testing the APIs internally, using real life accounts from our own team members. We work with APIs from specific banks as they become available. Though this means Open Banking won’t be enabled for everyone at once, it does allow us to give each bank connection focused and specific testing, making for an even better user experience as we roll out, bank by bank.

Phase two, part two begins now – here’s who can connect:

On that note, we’re super excited to announce that we’ve now officially connected three banks via Open Banking APIs: RBS, Natwest, and Ulster.

During this phase of the Open Banking roll out, we’ll be connecting up to 100 users per bank per day! This will only impact new Yolt users. If you’ve already connected to Yolt, you don't need to worry about connecting via API just yet — your Yolt experience will be the same!

What happens next?

Connected banks:

Over the coming weeks, we will continue adding 100 users per day for each RBS, Natwest and Ulster. During the next and final stage, we will continue to increase the daily connections for each bank. Eventually, you will only be able to connect your current accounts to Yolt via Open Banking.

Remaining banks: 

The Open Banking Implementation Entity has asked that all CMA9 banks make their Open Banking APIs available by the end of March. We will begin testing for each bank as we receive their APIs, so watch this space for news on Open Banking connections with Santander, Lloyds, HSBC, Nationwide, Danske Bank, Barclays, AIB, and the Bank of Ireland.