The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has issued separate letters to Barclays and Lloyds for breaching open banking rules.
The two banks were found to have violated the Open Banking provisions of the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order multiple times.
The order stipulates largest Great Britain and Northern Ireland banks to ensure the availability of accurate and up to date product and service information through APIs. This allows third-party apps and websites to offer personalised service and updated information to customers.
In the two separate letters, CMA director of remedies, business and financial analysis Dipesh Shah outlined the number of instances the two banks violated the UK’s 2017 Retail Banking Market Investigation Order.
Barclays breached the order 13 times, while Lloyds made ten violations.
The CMA noted that failure on the bank’s part “can mean that consumers take wrong decisions and they may therefore choose financial products or services which are not best suited to their needs.”
The letters said that Barclays notified the CMA of the breaches on 22 September 2021, while Lloyds did so between 8 June 2021 and 13 October 2021. Both the banks also took voluntary measures to end the breaches.
The CMA refrained from taking any formal enforcement action at this time in both cases but said it reserves the right to do so if there is further non-compliance.