Ahead of speaking at Open Banking Expo UK and Europe in October, Darran Morford, chief executive officer of Obconnect, reveals what he considers is the company’s biggest Open Banking achievement in the past year.
1. What development in the Open Banking space, in your opinion, should people be paying attention to?
Non-sweeping variable recurring payments (VRPs), when they are widely available.
2. Do you have a key achievement in the Open Banking space from the past year you are able to share?
Using AISP to support the distribution of council tax and utility rebates as part of the government’s schemes to offer support during the cost-of-living crisis.
3. Are there any areas where pace has been slower than expected?
Large-scale PISP adoption by large merchants with massive volumes of payments from customers, such as supermarkets, and retailers, like Next and M&S. This includes those merchants with physical stores, and those with only an online presence, such as ASOS and Amazon. Open Banking is not quite there yet.
4. Any organisations or players you feel are the ones to watch, trailblazing in this space?
Obconnect, obviously. We are providing support to banks to make their systems more efficient, and supporting corporates and TPPs to access the banks across all functionalities. Obconnect is the only full-service Open Banking and Confirmation of Payee provider.
Darran Morford is speaking at Open Banking Expo UK and Europe, which runs across 18-19 October in London and features more than 150 speakers across seven stages – click here to register for tickets and check out the agenda.
