Ozone API now supports the latest version of the UK open banking standards

In the world of open banking, change is definitely a constant! What started 6 years ago with the creation of the UK open banking standard continues to evolve, with new releases adding ever richer functionality to unlock more capabilities for banks and third parties.

Ozone API has powered the UK open banking sandbox / model bank from the very outset,  so we’re delighted to announce that we have now updated this in line with the latest version of the UK open banking standard, Version 3.1.11.

The full details of these changes were announced by the OBL at the end of May. While this is not a significant deviation from the previous version, it does include a number of very useful new features.

Firstly, it includes richer functionality to enable better access to account information for multi currency wallets and accounts. Over recent years we’ve seen a boom in multi currency solutions which allow customers to more effectively manage multiple currencies in a single account or wallet. This enhancement to the standard will make it easier for customers to better understand how balances are split across their different currencies in a multi currency account / wallet.

This is achieved through the inclusion of Balance subtypes, for example:

• Base Currency – the balance amount in the base account currency
• Local Currency – the amount represented in the local currency 

There is also an optional component to help customers better understand the amounts in each local currency along with a view of the Total Balance Value in the base currency.

Another important change is an enhancement to the Variable Recurring Payments (VRP) specification. This requires the VRP type to be included in both the VRP consent and the VRP initiation. This will help establish clear differentiation between “Sweeping” use cases and the commercial application of VRPs, for use cases such as subscription and ecommerce payments.

Whilst this may seem a small, technical change, it is a recognition that VRP will grow as a value-adding or premium API which enables banks to deliver more innovative payment use cases. 

It is great to see that with every new version the UK open banking standard continues to mature and support growing market expectations.

The Ozone API Sandbox for open banking in the UK is now live with the latest version of this standard and can be accessed via the OBL Directory Sandbox.

The Ozone API Hub also now offers full conformance to this latest version of the standard, along with support for all the leading global standards, helping banks and financial institutions around the world to deliver standards compliant open APIs and to enable open finance. Get in touch to find out more.

The global open banking and open finance landscape continues to evolve with an increasing number of standards emerging. You can find out more about this global landscape in the Global Open Data Tracker.