GLOBAL REACTION

In New Zealand there’s been a deafening silence from politicians and regulators about open banking. That’s not so in other countries and regions as authorities smooth the way to end the banks’ stranglehold on consumer data.

EUROPE: So serious is Europe about open banking that every member state is required to enshrine the EU-wide Payment Services Directive 2 (known as PSD2) in law in January 2018. This will allow people in those countries greater freedom (and confidence) to share their data and access more of it.

UK: In early 2016, Britain’s Open Banking Working Group created the UK Open Banking Standard framework. The whole open banking project is being driven by the government’s Competition and Markets Authority. Its interest goes back to 2013 when a review of retail banking was begun to investigate customer abuses by banks, followed in 2016 by a list of ‘‘remedies’’.

AUSTRALIA: In its 2017-18 budget, the Australian government said it would introduce open banking. It commissioned an independent review to recommend the best approach to implement the regime The review is to report by the end of the year.

SINGAPORE: The Monetary Authority of Singapore has created a ‘‘regulatory sandbox’’ and is encouraging people and companies to innovate in financial services, and will even smooth the way if there are regulations that get in the way.

US: The American Banker magazine has called on the United States, where the banking lobby is strong, to embrace open banking, or lose its position as a global financial leader. US fintech companies are leaders, and even without the US government coming to the party companies such as Yodlee are pioneering ‘‘user permissioned’’ open banking.