NorthRow (formerly Contego), the RegTech and compliance specialist, has been chosen by The Open Banking Implementation Entity (the ‘OBIE’), the body created by the UK’s largest personal and small business current account providers to create a better way to move, manage and make more of your money, to verify its users and to support the much-anticipated technological revolution that promises to give people greater control over their finances.
In combining requirements under the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the European Union’s Payment Services Directive phase 2 (PSD2), the Open Banking Standard is a seismic change to banking models in the digital age. Using secure open APIs, banking clients have the ability to far more effectively manage lending, saving, transaction and investment financial requirements than ever before. The open APIs allow third party developers to create applications which will enable banking customers to securely gain greater insight and control over their finances and additionally deliver freedom to access an open market of financial services that provide more personalised services for sound banking decisions.
NorthRow has been appointed to support Open Banking’s identity-proofing and verification processes, and ensure security and customer needs are embedded at its core. FCA-regulated parties will be able to apply to access the data, therefore thorough and comprehensive verification checks are paramount.
NorthRow’s platform provides a flexible, customised solution, with fully automated identity verification delivered in real-time, via a single API – essential for high-speed onboarding.
Working with Open Banking is the latest confirmation of NorthRow’s leadership in providing the highest levels of identity verification. The streamlined process, in line with government standards, includes: online application, ID verification in real-time, and mobile ID document capture.
Adrian Black, CEO of NorthRow at the time said: “Having participated in the original Open Banking Working Group and having seen how Open Banking will give the customer secure control of their finances, I was keen to be involved. We have delivered a customised solution in a challenging timescale that will provide Open Banking with a complete picture of who they are working with, not just in the UK but now across Europe.”
NorthRow’s robust approach to validation ensures that a thorough check is made using multiple steps to ensure that the process is comprehensive while remaining low touch.
Nigel Spencer, Head of Support Services at Open Banking said: “NorthRow has been very easy to work with; they have listened and their approach is professional, transparent and consultative. Their ability to deliver a bespoke solution that combines automated identity checks with the added security of face-to-face verification made it the obvious choice. NorthRow’s technology innovations made them a clear front-runner when it came to deciding what firm to team up with to securely deliver Open Banking.”
Media Contacts:
Sarah Durrani, Robert Pinto Fernandes, Streets Consulting
Tel: 020 7959 2235
Email: sarah.durrani@streetsconsulting.com / robert.fernandes@streetsconsulting.com
About NorthRow
Launched in 2011, NorthRow is the only comprehensive risk scoring platform that can handle complex multi-source fraud detection and compliance checks on people, companies and ID documents at high speed, delivered in a single view, through one easily-integrated API.
NorthRow combines data from a broad range of commercial, open source and law enforcement sources with a proprietary risk scoring system to reduce the risk of fraud and make compliance checks and processes, such as AML (Anti Money Laundering) and KYC (Know Your Customer), as frictionless as possible.
NorthRow delivers a comprehensive and holistic view of both people and companies, so that regulated and risk-conscious firms can instantly make crucial, data-driven decisions about how and with whom they do business.
About Open Banking
Open Banking is a new, secure way for customers to take control of their financial data and share it with organisations other than their banks. Open Banking has the power to revolutionise the way we move, manage and make more of our money. For businesses, it is about making the management of cashflow and receiving payments cheaper and easier. Open Banking will make things simpler, faster and more convenient.
It is the retail banking industry’s response to the UK Government’s request for fairer, more transparent banking and financial services, and follows the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into the supply of personal current accounts (PCAs) and of banking services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Open Banking was created to enable innovation, transparency and competition in UK financial services. It is tasked with delivering the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), data structures and security architectures that will enable developers to harness technology, making it easy and safe for individuals and SMEs to share the financial information held by their banks with third parties.
Open Banking will bring substantial benefits to individuals and SMEs greater market choice and greater control over their money and associated data, along with better and easier access to new financial services providers in a secure environment.
Notes to Editors:
1. Open Banking Ltd was set up by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) in September 2016 to fulfil one of the remedies mandated by the CMA following an investigation into UK retail banking.
2. The CMA’s investigation into the retail banking market (whose findings were published in August 2016) concluded that older and larger banks do not compete hard enough for customers’ business and that Open Banking should deliver a new, secure option for customers to be able to compare the deal they are getting from their bank.
3. Open Banking was created to enable innovation, transparency and competition to UK financial services. It is tasked with delivering the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), data structures and security architectures that will make it easy and safe for customers to share their financial records by the end of January 2018.
4. The data provided by Open Banking will enable developers to harness technology that allows individuals and businesses to share their financial records held by their banks with third parties.
5. Open Banking is a private body; its governance, composition and budget was determined by the CMA. It is funded by the UK’s nine largest current account providers and overseen by the CMA, the Financial Conduct Authority and Her Majesty’s Treasury.
6. The 9 mandated institutions (referred to as the CMA9) are: Barclays plc, Lloyds Banking Group plc, Santander, Danske, HSBC, RBS, Bank of Ireland, Nationwide and AIBG.
